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TO  THfi 

RIGHT  REVEREND  THE  LORD  BISHOP  OF" 

BATH  AND  WELLS, 

THIS  NEW  EDITION 

IS   AGAIN   RESPKCTFULLY    INSCRIBED, 

IN   TOKEN   OF 

THE    author's   UNDIMINISHED   SENSE 

OF    THE    KINDNESS 

AND   SINCERE    RESPECT    FOR   THE 

JCalents  anJj  VivtneM 

OF 


HIS   VENERABLE    DIOCESAN. 


PREFACE. 


The  great  master*  of  Roman  eloquence  informs 
us,  that  once  on  a  time  the  Athenians  were  un- 
der great  difficulty  and  distraction  on  the  choice 
of  their  religion,  inasmuch  as  the  law  directed 
that  the  people  should  worship  according  to  the 
best  forms  of  their  country's  rites  ;  in  their  per- 
plexity they  consulted  the  Pythian  Oracle,  and 
demanded  what  religious  rites  they  should  spe- 
cially follow.  The  Oracle  replied,  "  Those 
which  were  after  the  more  ancient  form  of  their 
forefathers.''''  This  answer  not  sufficiently  satis- 
fying their  doubts,  they  sent  a  second  time  to 
the  Oracle,  saying,  that  as  for  the  form  of  their 
forefathers  it  was  frequently  changed,  that  they 
were  anxious  therefore  to  know  what  form,  out 
of  the  many,  they  ought  principally  to  follow. 
The  Oracle  answered — "  The  best." 

From  this  reply  the  Roman  orator  concluded, 
that  that  must  he  ever  reclconed  the  best  which  is  the 
most  ancient,  and  the  nearest  to  God  himself 

The  Oracle  answered  correctly,  and  the  hea- 
then moralist  was  right  in  his  conclusion  ;  for 

*  Cicero  de  Legibus,  lib.  ii.  c.  16. 


VI  PREFACE. 

assuredly  truth  must  be  as  much  older  than  er- 
ror, as  God  is  older  than  the  author  of  evIL 
This  is  a  maxim  that  holds  good  in  all  things, 
especially  in  religion,  which,  if  it  be  true,  must 
proceed  from  the  God  of  truth,  and  therefore  be 
acceptable  to  Him  ;  and  then  by  how  much  it  is 
the  more  ancient,  by  so  much  must  it  be  the 
nearer  to  the  fountain  of  truth. 

But  the  God  whom  the  Scriptures  have  re- 
vealed to  us,  placed  this  matter  be3^Qnd  doubt, 
when  He  counselled  the  sons  of  men,  in  the  un- 
erring oracles  of  divine  truth,  to  "  stand  in  the 
ways  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  Qldimth,  where  is 
the  good  way,  and  to  walk  therein,  and  they 
should  find  rest  for  their  souls."*  Where  it  is 
evident  that  the  old  way,  and  the  good  ivay,  are 
convertible  terms,  and  are  one  and  the  same 
with  that  wherein  God's  people  may  "  find  rest 
for  their  souls." 

On  this  command  of  God  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land may  well  take  her  stand,  and  claim  the 
love  and  veneration  of  her  children  on  the  very 
ground  of  her  antiquity,  drawing  her  doctrine 
from  the  fountain  of  divine  revelation,  as  ex- 
pounded by  the  first  four  General  Councils,  and 
the  most  ancient  of  the  Fathers,  deriving  her  ri- 
tuals from  the  practice  of  the  purest  churches 
in  the  oldest  times,  and  framing  her  government 
on   the  models  of  those   churches  which   were 

*  Jerem.  vL  Id 


PREFACE.  VII 

planted  and  watered  by  the  Apostles  them- 
selves.* So  that  nothing  is  wanting  to  complete 
the  evidence  of  antiquity,  or  to  satisfy  the  most 
scrupulous  of  her  children,  that  she  is  verily  a 
true  branch  of  that  pure  and  apostolical  Church, 
against  which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  pre- 
vail. 

It  is  true  that  time,  and  the  wickedness  of 
man,  combined  to  rob  her  of  her  purity,  and  to 
spoil  her  of  her  privileges,  and  she  sank  for  a 
while  under  the  accumulated  weight  of  gross 
superstition  and  foreign  oppression.  For  cen- 
turies she  la}^  buried  beneath  her  cruel  burden, 
during  which  season  of  her  humiliation  she  ex- 
hibited scarcely  a  token  of  a  visible  existence. 
This  temporary  obscurity  has  been  made  an  ar- 
gument against  her  by  her  opponents,  but  it  is 
most  unreasonable ;  for  as,  according  to  the 
maxim  of  philosophers,  "  the  objects  of  sio-ht 
remain  still  discernible,  even  when  they  are  not 
discerned  " — so  it  is  with  the  Church  ;  in  her 
obscurest  condition  a  degree  of  visibility  is  still 
apparent,  and  it  is  only  adding  mockery  to  pil- 
lage to  ask  the  question,  where  our  Church  was 

*  Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  against  Marcion  the  heretic,  adopts 
the  same  argument.  "  If  it  be  certain,"  he  says,  "  that  this  is 
most  genuine  which  is  most  ancient,  that  most  ancient  which  is 
from  the  beginning,  and  that  from  the  beginriiig  whicli  is  fi-om 
the  Apostles :  in  like  manner  it  will  also  be  certain,  that  has  been 
delivered  from  the  Apostles  which  is  held  sacred  in  the  Churches 
of  the  Apostles." 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

before  the  Reformation  ?  The  highwayman 
who  steals  j^our  purse,  might  just  as  well  ask 
you  where  it  was  before  he  stole  it  from  3^ou. 
But  the  question  is  as  absurd  as  it  is  insulting, 
for  it  assumes  that  the  orthodox  Church  must  be 
visible  in  all  ages.  Whereas  the  Scriptures 
forewarn  us  of  great  revolts,  and  of  false  teach- 
ers who  shall  deceive  many,  persuading  them 
to  refrain  from  marriage,  and  fi-om  meats  which 
God  has  created  to  be  received  with  thankful- 
ness.* The}^  foretell  that  all  the  world  should 
wonder  and  go  after  the  beast  :t  they  speak  to 
tis  of  the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition  ;t  they 
declare  to  us  that  wings  are  given  to  the  Church 
to  flee  awa}^  into  the  desert,  and  to  remain  hid 
for  a  time*^  Accordingly,  for  a  time  the  man 
of  sin  prevailed,  and  the  Church  of  England  re- 
mained hid  under  the  impenetrable  covering  of 
iQ^noraiice  and  error.  But  thouojh  clouds  and 
darkness  were  round  about  her,  the  day-spring 
from  on  high  was  shortly  to  visit  her,  when  the 
glorious  light  of  the  Reformation  should  dispel 
the  darkness,  and  give  liberty  to  the  victim  of 
an  odious  oppression.  Then  did  she  awake 
from  her  Ions:  slumber— then  came  she  forth, 
galled  and  scathed  indeed  by  the  severit}^  of  her 
wrongs,  but  still  possessing  all  the  lineaments 
of  her  pure  and  holy  origin. 

*  1  Tim.  iv.  3.  t  Rev.  xiii.  3. 

t  2  Tbess.  ii,  3,  $  Rev.  xii.  U. 


PREFACE.  IX 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  so  great  a  trans- 
formation could  be  the  work  of  a  moment.  The 
captive,  long  habituated  to  the  weight  and  tor- 
ture of  his  chains,  cannot,  on  the  first  recovery 
of  his  liberty,  walk  w^ith  the  ease  and  firmness 
of  the  freeman.  Thus  was  it  wiih  the  Church 
of  England,  in  the  first  days  of  her  deliverance ; 
but  she  still  felt  the  effects  of  her  long  captivity. 
She  had  thrown  off  her  chains,  but  she  continued 
for  many  years  crippled  by  their  past  infliction. 
This  was  her  misfortune,  and  by  no  means  the 
fault  of  her  deliverers,  and  could  with  no  more 
justice  be  imputed  to  them  as  a  crime,  than  the 
indistinct  vision  of  the  blind  man  of  Bethsaida 
could  be  charged  as  a  sign  of  unskilfullness  and 
imposture  on  the  wonder-working  Saviour ;  and 
as  to  the  charge  of  novelty,  of  bringing  in  a 
new  faith,  of  setting  up  a  new  Church,  it  con- 
victs our  opponents  of  either  the  most  deplora- 
ble ignorance,  or  the  most  culpable  want  of  ve- 
racity ;  for  nothing  short  of  the  blindest  credu- 
lity can  any  longer  believe  the  oft-repeated  cal- 
umny, and  nothing  but  the  most  unblushing  in- 
difference to  the  truth  could  any  further  persist  in 
60  distorting  facts  as  to  represent  the  work  of 
the  Reformation  as  the  invention  of  a  new  sys- 
tem of  religion.  And  yet  such  is  the  case — 
Romanists  to  this  day  reiterate  the  libellous  cal- 
umny, and  weak  and  ignorant  men  are  ready, 
as  formerly,  to  believe  and  circulate  it,  and  with- 


X  PREFACE. 

out  taking  the  slightest  trouble  to  inquire  wheth- 
er these  things  are  so  or  not,  are  easily  led  to 
surrender  their  religious  faith,  and  liberty  of 
conscience,  to  the  fascinating  delusions  of  a 
pompous  ritual,  and  the  flattering  sanctions  of  an 
unspiritual,  carnal,  and  enslaving  creed.  Oh! 
that  Protestants  would  but  examine  for  them- 
selves the  grounds  (;f  their  belief  as  members  of 
the  Reformed  Church  i  Oh !  that  they  would  but 
employ  that  reason  and  liberty  with  which  God 
has  blessed  them,  in  proving  and  holding  fast 
the  profession  of  their  faith  without  wavering  ! 
Then  would  they  learn  to  distinguish  between 
the  false  doctrines  of  Romanism,  and  the 
Church  of  Rome  herself — then  would  they  un- 
derstand that  however  ancient  that  Church  may 
be,  her  errors  are  comparatively  modern — that 
she  has  departed  from  herself  in  those  very  es- 
sentials wherein  the  Church  of  England  diflfers 
from  her — that  she  at  this  da}^  no  more  resem- 
bles the  Church  of  Rome  of  the  first  four  cen- 
turies, than  the  Church  of  England  resembles 
her  in  the  nineteenth  century  ;  for  it  would  be 
evident  that  her  boasted  supremacy  was  but  a 
fiction — that  there  was  no  such  title  as  "  uni- 
versal bishop,"  till  the  time  of  Boniface,  600 
years  after  Christ — that  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
substantiation  had  no  existence  till  the  Late  ran 
Council,  A.  D.  1215 — that  the  cup  was  not  deni- 
ed to  the  people  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 


PREFACE.  XI 

SiJpper  till  the  Council  of  Constance,  a.  d.  1414 
— that  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  many  oth- 
er similar  novelties  in  their  religion,  had  no  ad- 
mission as  articles  of  belief  till  the  Council  of 
Trent,  a.  d.  1545,  which,  together  with  the 
creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.,  are  in  fact  the  real 
sources  of  that  religion,  "  whose  fooleries,"  says 
Bishop  Hall,  "  the  very  boys  maj^  shout  and 
laugh  at." 

Now  all  these,  and  numberless  other  points., 
are  questions  of  histoiy,  and  are  to  be  decided, 
not  by  empty  assertion,  not  by  unmeaning  de- 
clamation, not  by  uncertain  tradition,  which 
"  like  a  common  sewer  brings  down,  for  the 
most  part,  the  trash  and  rubbish  of  former  times, 
very  often  letting  the  most  w^eighty  things  sink 
and  perish  in  the  passage,"*  but  by  an  appeal 
to  the  accredited  testimony  of  ancient  records. 
These  are  fortunately  in  our  hands,  are  beyond 
the  reach  of  contradiction  or  suspicion,  and  as 
such  are  the  title-deeds  of  our  ecclesiastical  in- 
heritance. Of  this  our  opponents  are  fully 
aware,  and  therefore  most  disingenuousl}^  en- 
deavor to  draw  off  attention  from  themselves, 
by  retorting  upon  Protestantism  the  charge  of 
novelty,  and  upon  the  Reformed  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  particular,  the  stigma  of  a  "  religion  by 
Act  of  Parliament." 

The  writer  of  the  following  pages,  in  the  full- 

"*  Ooodman's  Six  Sermons. 


Xn  PREFACE. 

est  conviction  that  the  danger  of  such  misrep- 
resentation is  by  no  means  so  insignificant  as 
some  suppose,  ventures,  with  much  confidence^ 
at  once  to  meet  the  objection  by  a  direct  ap- 
peal to  histor}^,  believing  he  cannot  better  de- 
fend the  Church  against  the  increasing  malice  of 
her  enemies,  than  by  maintaining,  in  the  first 
place,  the  strong  ground  of  her  higher  antiquity 
and  long-asserted  independence  ;  and  then  by 
showing,  that  in  proportion  as  Popery  gained  a 
footing  here,  the  purity  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land declined,  and  that  she  further  and  further 
receded  from  her  high  and  holy  character,  un- 
til by  degrees  the  leaven  of  Romanism  perva- 
ded the  whole  mass,  and  she  sank  down  under 
the  overwhelming  pressure  of  external  aggres- 
sion, and  internal  decay.  To  the  bright  and 
balmy  period  of  her  ancient  renown  succeeded 
a  lono^,  dark,  chillv  nis^ht  of  ionorance  an-d  cor- 
ruption,  during  which  she  slumbered  on  in  blind 
and  listless  security..  Signs  of  animation  were 
occasionally  shown,  and  a  voice  was  heard  at 
intervals,  faint  at  first,  but  louder  as  time  ad- 
vanced, bidding  her  to  awake  from  her  slumber 
and  reassume  her  ancient  rights,  when  at  last 
shone  forth  the  blessed  day  of  her  emancipa- 
tion, and  her  intrepid  deliverers  set  themselves 
resolutelj^  to  the  great  and  difficult  work  of  her 
reformation.  As  for  building  up  a  new  Church, 
it  never  entered  their  thoughts  :  they  "onely  en- 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

deavoured  (not  without  happy  successe,)  to 
cleanse,  scoure,  restore,  refornie  her  from  thnt 
filthy  soyle,  both  of  disorder  and  errors,  where- 
with she  was  shamefully  blemished."* 

These  things  it  must  be  repeated,  are  matters 
of  history,  and  are  to  be  answered  by  some- 
thing more  solid  than  the  mere  repetition  of  an- 
cient calumny. 

In  laying  the  result  of  his  researches  before 
the  public,  the  author  feels  he  is  but  a  very 
humble  follower  in  the  steps  of  many  who  have 
gone  before  him ;  and  though  he  does  not  pre- 
tend to  offer  much  new  matter,  or  to  advance 
any  new  arguments  in  support  of  the  points  he 
has  ventured  to  handle,  he  3^et  hopes  he  may  be 
the  means  of  encouraging  in  others  a  closer  ex- 
amination of  the  whole  subject ;  being  convin- 
ced, from  his  own  experience,  that  such  an  ex- 
amination, if  pursued  with  a  single  eye  to  the 
attainment  of  the  truth,  though  it  may  fail  to 
bring  conviction  to  the  mind  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic, will  lead  the  Protestant  to  a  more  deep, 
thankfc,.  J, and  abiding  attachment  to  that  Church, 
of  which  he  may  have  been  hitherto  a  member, 
rather  from  the  circumstances  of  birth  or  educa- 
tion, than  from  being  able  to  give  a  satisfactory 
answer  to  any  one  who  might  ask  him  for  the 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him ;  and  who 
thus  furnished  with  the  power,  will  have   the 

*  Bishop  Hall's  ''  No  Peace  with  Rome." 

2* 


XIV  PREFACE. 

boldness  also  to  confess  before  all  men,  that 
"  after  the  way  v/hich  they  call  heresy,  so  wor- 
ships he  the  Gocl  of  his  fathers,  believing  all 
things  which  are  written  in  the  law  and  the  pro- 
phets," and  not  resting  so  serious  a  matter  as 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  on  such  a  rotten  found- 
ation as  the  unwritten  word,  the  traditions  of  fal- 
lible men,  which  depend  upon  no  higher  author- 
ity than  that  of  some  wicked  Pope  perhaps, 
who  has  been  constituted  by  the  Church  of 
Rome,  with  singular  adroitness,  a  judge  in  his 
own  cause! 

If  it  should  thus  be  the  happy  effect  of  this 
little  volume,  to  increase  the  al  re ad}^  growing  at- 
tachment of  her  children  to  that  Church  whose 
service  is  reasonable,  and  worshiiJ  sjnritiial,  then 
will  its  main  intention  be  answered,  and  the  au- 
th')r  will  submit  to  bear  whatever  taunts  it  may 
call  forth  on  the  part  of  Roman  Catholics. 
Truth,  however,  and  the  good  of  all  men,  being 
the  objects  nearest  to  his  heart,  he  begs  to  de- 
clare, that  in  dealing  with  the  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  he  has  been  actuated  by  no 
unkind  feelings  towards  the  members  of  that 
Church  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  been  with  the 
utmost  pain  that  he  has  at  any  time  spoken 
harsh I}^  of  the  corruptions  of  Romanism,  so  has 
it  been  with  all  good-will,  and  the  sincerest  de- 
sire of  restoring  his  Roman  Catholic  brethren  to 
"  the  fold  from  whence  they  have  strayed,"  that 


PREFACE.  XV 


he  has  engaged  at  all  in  this  work ;  and  so  ar- 
dently does  he  desire  this  happy  consummation, 
that  he  might  well  envy  the  affectionate  zeal, 
the  superhuman  love  and  devotion  of  the  warm- 
hearted apostle,  that  led  him  to  declare  on  be- 
half of  his  erring  countrymen — "  I  say  the  truth 
in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing 
me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have  great 
heaviness,  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart. 
For  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed 
iiom  Christ  for  my  brethren,  mij  kinsmen  accord- 
mg  to  thefiesh.* 

With  the  errors  of  Romanism,  therefore,  the 
writer  has  alone  endeavored  to  combat,  and 
even  in  combating  them,  he  has  had  no  desire 
himself,  nor  would  he  on  any  account  persuade 
others,  to  measure  the  Protestant  religion  by  any 
uncandid  opposition  to  the  Roman  Catholic ; 
and  in  the  like  spirit  of  fairness  towards  that 
Church,  he  disclaims  for  himself  the  supposi- 
tion that  he  would  account  every  thing  popery 
that  is  found  in  her.  No ;  he  thankfully  ac- 
knowledges in  her  whatever  she  has  retained  of 
primitive  truth  and  piety,  and  readily  admits, 
that  with  all  her  dead  forms,  and  cold  and  cor- 
rupt doctrines,  there  is  yet  to  be  found  some  of 
the  devotional  spirit  of  early  piety  circulating 
in  her  veins  ;  she  yet  retains,  though  hidden 
from  the  people  in  an  unknown  tongue,  many  of 

"  Rom.  xi.  1—13. 


XVI  PREFACK. 

those  truly  scriptural  prayers,  which  in  the  ser^ 
vice  of  the  Church  of  England  are,  in  their 
translated  form,  found  to  be  so  exquisitely  adapt- 
ed to  the  purposes  of  devotion.  These  prayers,, 
however,  are  not  to  be  mistaken  for  the  compo- 
sitions of  Popery,  but  are  the  revered  and  sacred 
remnants  of  pure  antiquity,  most  of  them  hav- 
ing been  extant  in  the  Western  Church  above 
1000  years  before  the  name  of  Popery,  at  least 
long  before  the  present  mass-book  had  a  being,* 
Had  the  Roman  Church  adhered  in  every  thing 
to  the  form  and  practice  of  antiquity,  there 
would  have  been  no  need  of  the  Reformation, 
and  nothing  would  have  been  heard  of  those  vi- 
olent disputes  which  have  so  rent  the  Churcli  of 
Christ,  in  consequence  of  her  departure  from  the 
primitive  faith  and  practice.  But  the  Reform- 
ers had  no  alternative  ;  the  Roman  Church 
w^ould  not  throw  off  her  corruptions — ^they  were 
compelled,  therefore,  to  undertake  the  reforma- 
tion for  themselves.  "  Those  worthy  husband- 
men,'^ "in  plucking  up  those  pernicious  weeds  out 
of  the  Lord's  field,  and  severing  the  chaff  from 
his  grain,  cannot  be  rightly  said,  in  doing  this, 
either  to  have  brought  in  another  field,  or  to  have 
changed  the  ancient  grain.  'The  field  is  the  saniCy 
but  weeded  now,  unweeded  then;  the  grain  is 
the  same^hut  winnowed  nov/.  unwinnowed  then.'^t 

*  Veneer's  Introductifjii  to  his  Exposition  of  tke  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer. 

t  Archbishop  Usher's  Sermon  on  the  Uuiversity  of  the  Church 
cf  Christ,  published  a.  d.  1624. 


PREFACE.  XVU 

This  is  the  plain  state  of  the  case,  and  in  its 
further  development,  in  the  following  pages,  it  will 
be  observed  with  what  caution  the  restorers  of 
our  Church  either  rejected  what  was  contrary  to 
Scripture  and  the  practice  of  antiquity,  or  else 
retained  "  with  reverence,  whatever  did  not  en- 
damage the  Church  of  God,  nor  offend  the  minds 
of  sober  men." 

The  author  has  only  further  to  observe,  that 
with  reference  to  the  introductory  chapter,  hav- 
ing been  greatly  interested  in  the  recent  discov- 
ery and  restoration  of  the  very  ancient  Church 
of  Perranzabuloe — associated  as  it  is  with  the 
early  history  of  a  country,  whose  simple-minded 
inhabitants  were  the  last  to  surrender,  as  they 
were  the  first  to  assert,  the  independence  of  their 
church — he  considers  it  to  be  so  happily  illus- 
trative of  the  subject  before  him,  that  he  hopes 
no  apology  is  necessary  forgiving  it  a  conspicu- 
ous place  in  this  work :  and  without  wishing  to 
press  the  analogy  too  closely,  he  cannot  doubt 
but  that  in  the  main  features  there  will  be  dis- 
covered such  a  resemblance  as  will  help  materi- 
ally to  answer  the  old  objection  drawn  from  the 
Church's  temporary  obscurity  and  concealment. 

The  writer  throughout  has  consulted  the  best 
authorities,  and  has  only  presumed  in  two  cases 
to  give  any  latitude  to  invention — in  the  parting 
address  of  St.  Piran,  alluded  to  by  several  his- 
torians, he  has  ventured  to  imagine  what  might 


XVlll  PREFACE. 

have  been  the  words  of  the  dying  saint — and  in 
the  silence  of  history  respecting  the  identical 
Cornish  shrine  that  the  pious  Alfred  visited  in 
his  sickness,  he  has  not  hesitated  to  assign  the 
honour  to  a  tomb  so  celebrated  as  was  that  at 
Perranzabuloe.* 

The  author  cannot  but  believe  that  the  favor- 
able notice  which  the  public  have  taken  of  the 
former  editions  of  this  little  volume,  is  indica- 
tive of  something  better  than  the  mere  indul- 
gence of  an  useless  curiosity  respecting  an  in- 
teresting relic  of  antiquity — he  feels  assured 
that  it  is  the  homage  paid  to  truth — the  assent 
of  unprejudiced  minds,  not  to  any  "  strange  doc- 
trines," but  to  a  plain  narration  of  facts — estab- 
lishing by  an  unbroken  chain  of  historical  evi- 
dence the  points  to  be  proved,  and  beating  down 
the  vain  and  unfounded  pretensions  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  He  commits  therefore,  with 
increased  confidence,  this  new  edition  of  his 
work  to  the  same  indulgent  public — he  com- 
mends it  again  to  the  blessing  of  Him  who  has 
promised  to  be  with  his  Church  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world ! 


*  Some  further  notices  respecting  the  Church  of  Perranzabu- 
loe, and  its  ancient  place  of  sepulture,  are  added  in  the  Appendix. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  1. 


PAGE 

Approach  to  Perran's  Bay. — Desolate  aspect  of  the  surround- 
ing country- — Sandhills  of  Perranzabuloe. — Traditionary  no- 
tice of  its  ancient  Church. — State  of  Cornwall  on  the  first 
introduction  of  Christianity. — Druids. — Their  religion  and 
remains. — Causes  of  the  slow  progress  of  Christianity  at 
first. — First  propagated  in  the  third  centur)^ — Corantinus, 
the  first  Cornish  apostle. — Piranus,  his  history. — Lands  in 
Cornwall. — A  great  benefactor  to  the  miners. — His  death. 
— A  Church  built  over  his  remains. — His  shrine  held  in 
great  repute. — Christianity  now  makes  a  rapid  stride. — Cor- 
nish independent  of  Rome. — After  the  Saxon  conquest  the 
British  bishops  retire  into  Cornwall. — The  Cornish  gradually 
yield  to  Roman  influence. — The  first  Coniish  bishopric  when 
founded — Why  removed. — St.  Piran's  Church  in  high  re- 
pute — Visited  by  Alfred  the  Great. — Its  subsequent  obscu- 
rty. — Causes  of  its  decline. — And  final  submersion. — De- 
structive eflects  of  the  sand. — Unsuccessful  efforts  to  uncover 
the  Church. — By  whom  at  length  effected. — Its  interesting 
appearance. — How  unlike  modern  Roman  Catholic  churches. 
— TJie  subject  applied  to  illustrate  the  condition  and  restora- 
tion of  the  Church  of  England  at  the  Reformation.    .     .     1 — 30 

CHAPTER  II. 

Perranzabuloe,,  an  answer  to  the  taunting  question  of  Roman 
Catholics. — The  Church  of  England's  latency  no  objection 


XX  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

to  its  former  existence. — Modem  objections  of  novelty  an- 
swered.— Antiquity  of  the  British  Church  asserted. — Its  ^ 
foundation  the  Bible. — So  that  the  Reformation  did  not  cre- 
ate a  new,  but  found  the  old  religion. — History  of  the  British 
Church. — Authors  not  agreed  as  to  its  first  founder. — Rea- 
sons for  attributing  the  honor  to  St.  Paul. — Authorities  of  the 
six'  first  centuries, — Later  testunonies. — Further  reasons  why 
St.  Paul  first  preached  the  gospel  in  Britain. — Conversion  of 
British  captives. — Pomponia  Graecina's  interesting  histor}\ — 
Why  St.  Peter  could  not  have  been  the  first  and  sole  founder 
of  the  Church  of  Rome. — Reasons  drawn  from  the  conduct 
and  writings  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Luke. — St.  Peters  Suprem- 
acy shown  to  have  no  foundation. — The  New  Testament 
silent  respecting  it. — Cluist's  conduct  and  language  directly 
opposed  to  it. — Equality  and  independence  of  the  first  Church- 
es.— Title  of  "  Papa  Benedictus"  and  "  Episcopus  episcopo- 
rum,"  when  and  how  first  used. — Leo  I.  adopts  the  title  of 
"  Universal."' — Examination  of  the  text  of  Scripture  on 
which  the  Romanists  found  their  claim  of  supremacy. — The 
text  explained,  and  proved  to  be  falsely  translated  by  them. — 
Argument  from  St.  Peter's  silence,  and  especially  from  his 
conduct. — St.  Peter  never  bishop  of  Rome. — Linus  the  first 
bishop. — Extraordinary  consequence  if  Linus  possessed  this 
supremacy. — Testimony  of  Tertullian  and  Cj^rian  against 
the  Roman  claim, — Perfect  equality  of  all  Churches. — Ad- 
dress to  Protestants  on  the  subject 31 — 61 

CHAPTER  III. 

Independence  of  t'je  Briiish  Church. — Reasons  for  its  slow 
growth. — Lucius,  the  first  British  king  who  embraces  Chris- 
tianity and  protects  the  Church. — His  mission  to  Rome. — 
Letter  of  Pope  Eleutherius  declarator)^  of  the  independence 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  of  the  King's  supremacy. — 
Lucius's  zeal  for  the  Church. — It  continues  to  flourish  after 
his  death. — Diocletian  persecution. — Reaches  Britain. — St. 
Alban,  the  first  British  martyr. — The  persecution  ceases. — 
Constantine  protects  the  Church. — Flourishing  state  of  the 
Chi-Tch  early  in  the  fourth  century-. — Remarkable  proof  of 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

PAGE 

independence  exhibited  by  the  Council  of  Aries,  at  which 
British  bishops  were  present. — Further  proofs  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  British  Church  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 
From  the  deatli  of  Constantino  the  history  of  the  British 
Churcli  very  obscure. — Pelagian  heresy,  when  and  by  whom 
introduced. — Missionaries  from  Brittany  preacli  against  it 
successfully. — They  found  schools  in  Wales. — Monastery  at 
Bangor  established. — The  Romans  abandon  Britain. — The 
Scots  and  Picts  harass  the  North  of  England. — Petition  to 
the  Romans  unheeded. — The  Saxons  invited  over,  who  from 
allies  soon  became  conquerers  of  the  island. — Christianity 
nearly  rooted  out  by  them. — Establishment  of  the  Saxon 
heptarchy. — Marriage  of  Ethelbert  paves  the  way  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Saxons. — Gregory  the  Great,  his  first  no- 
tice of  the  Britons. — Determines  to  send  a  mission  to  Britain. 
Augustme  chosen  for  that  purpose. — Lands  in  Kent. — His 
success  in  converting  the  Saxons. — The  British  also  very  ac- 
tive in  the  same  work. — Romish  assertion  on  this  point  dispro- 
ved by  the  exertions  and  increase  of  the  British  Church.  62 — 80 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mission  of  Augustine  the  first  popisli  aggression. — Gradual 
growth  of  the  papal  power. — Pre-eminence,  why  claimed  by 
the  bisliops  of  Rome. — How  checked  by  Constantine. — The 
patriarchates  established. — Also,  the  four  other  orders. — Jeal- 
ousy of  the  bishop  of  Rome. — Restrained  by  the  Byzantine 
Patriarch. — Separation  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. — 
Bad  effect  of  these  rivalries. — Corruption  of  Christianity  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries. — Gregory's  ambitious  conduct. — 
His  pretended  humility. — Is  imposed  on  by  Augustine,  to 
whom  he  sends  the  pall. — Augustine  attempts  to  reduce  the 
British  Church. — He  mistakes  the  British  character. — The 
means  ho  employs  for  executing  his  purpose. — His  recourse 
to  pretended  miracles. — Gregory's  joy  on  hearing  of  his  suc- 
cess.— His  letter  to  Ethelbert  the  first  symptom  of  Rome's 
persecuting  spirit. — State  of  Christianity  among  the  Saxons 
on  the  death  of  Ethelbert. — The  Britons  resolutely  refuse  aH 
submission. — Failure  of  the  Synod  convened  by  Augustine. — 


XXll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

A  Second  Synod  held  at  St.  Augustine's  Oak. — The  British 
bishops  consult  a  Hermit. — His  sage  advice. — Augustine's 
arrogance. — Dinoth. — His  intrepid  reply. — Augustine's  re- 
venge.— The  massacre  at  Caerleon  — The  Britons  more  than 
ever  averse  to  the  Romish  misssionaries. — Death  of  Augus- 
tuie. — Arrival  of  Laurentius. — His  ineffectual  effort  to  reduce 
the  British  Church. — Also  the  Scottish  clergy. — Conduct  of 
Daganus  and  the  Scotch  clerg\-. — Romish  missionaries  dis- 
heartened, and  determine  to  withdraw  from  Britain. — Lau- 
rentius' pious  fraud. — Edmn,  King  of  Northumbria,  embra- 
ces Christianity. — Northumbria  and  Midland  Britain  evan- 
gehzed  by  means  of  the  British  cIerg}^ — Essex  and  East  An- 
glia,  and  nearly  all  England,  christianised  by  the  same 
means. — South  Britain  partly  converted  by  Romish  missiona- 
ries.— Theodoras  appointed  to  the  See  of  Canterbury. — His 
imperious  conduct. — Sad  state  of  religion  among  the  Saxons. 
— Synod  of  Clovishoo. — Efforts  to  reform  the  Church  abor- 
tive.— Offa,  King  of  Mercia. — Reasons  for  his  hostility  to  the 
Church. — Engages  to  pay  Peter-pence  to  the  Pope. — Contin- 
ued independence  of  the  British  Church. — Wilfrid. — Disputes 
respecting  Easter. — Corrupt  state  of  the  Church  of  Rome. — 
Especially  of  the  Popes. — Increase  of  superstitious  practices. 
— Council  of  Celychyth. — The  subject  of  Monachism  there 
first  debated. — Ethelwulf,  his  zeal  for  the  Church  and  the 
Pope. — Endows  the  Church  with  tithes. — Is  deposed. — Alfred 
opposed  to  the  Pope's  pretensions. — Reforms  the  Church. — 
Patronises  Letters. — Athelstan  introduces  Church  shot. — 
Dunstan. — Enforces  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy. — Founds  the 
Abbey  of  Glastonbiu:^'. — Maintains  the  independence  of  the 
British  Church. — Elfric,  his  HomiUes. — State  of  religion  in 
England. — Also  at  Rome. — Many  popes  at  the  same  mo- 
ment.— The  clergy  ignorant  and  debased. — William  the  Con- 
querer. — Firmly  resists  the  Pope. — Right  of  investiture,  what. 
— -William  Rufus  defies  the  Pope's  threats. — Traffics  in  b'sh- 
oprics  and  abbeys. — Henry  I.  maintains  his  rights  as  head  of 
the  Church. — Stephen,  his  subserviency  to  the  Pope. — Plenry 
II.  at  first  resists  the  Pope. — Convenes  the  Council  of  Clar- 
endon.— The  constitutions  of  that  Council,  what. — Alexander 


CONTENTS.  XXUl 

PAGE 

III.  protests  against  them. — Thomas  a  Becket,  his  conduct 
thereon. — Treats  the  King  with  contempt. — Is  adjudged  guil- 
ty of  treason. — Appeals  to  Rome. — His  insolence  to  the  King. 
— Is  slain  at  Canterburj% — Henry  submits  to  humiliating 
conditions. — Does  penance  at  the  shrine  of  Becket. — Pope's 
power  supreme  in  England. — Innocent  III.,  his  aiTogant 
conduct  towards  King  John,  in  the  case  of  Stephen  Langton. 
— Places  England  under  an  interdict. — Excommunicates  the 
King. — Offers  the  Crown  to  Philip. — Paudolph  arrives  in 
England. — Prophecy  of  Peter  the  Hermit. — ^John's  degrada- 
tion and  submission. — Struggle  between  John  and  his  Barons. 
— Magna  Charta. — Langton  refuses  to  excommunicate  the 
Barons. — Extreme  arrogance  of  Innocent  III. — Forbids  the 
laity  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  English. — The  Church 
of  England  falls  beneath  the  power  of  Rome.     .     .     .     81 — 130 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  power  of  Rome  begins  to  decline  throughout  Europe. — 
Causes  for  this  decline. — Boniface  VIII.  surpasses  all  his 
predecessors  hi  arrogance. — His  quarrel  with  Philip  the  Fair. 
— His  miserable  end. — The  papal  residence  transferred  to 
Avignon. — Continues  there  for  seventy  years. — Clement,  his 
haughty  conduct. — Struggle  between  rival  popes. — Its  con- 
sequence.— How  fatal  to  Poper}"^,  and  beneficial  to  true  reh- 
gion. — Monachism,  its  system  midermines  the  power  of  the 
Pope. — The  mendicants  draw  on  them  the  hatred  of  all  class- 
es.— Oxford  first  opposes  them. — John  WiclifFe. — Scholastic 
theology,  what. — Is  openly  resisted  by  WiclifFe. — Edward 
III.  opposes  the  Pope's  pretended  rights  in  England. — Wic- 
lifFe writes  in  defence  of  the  King. — Has  a  strong  party  to 
support  him. — Is  accused  of  Heresy. — Appears  before  a 
Council  at  St.  Paul's. — And  at  Lambeth. — No  decision 
against  him,  and  why. — He  writes  down  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pope's  infallibility. — Translates  the  Bible. — The  people's 
eagerness  to  possess  and  read  the  Scriptures. — Testimony  of 
a  Roman  Catholic  writer. — WiclifFe  attacks  the  doctrine  of 
Transubstantiation. — Lollards,  why  so  called. — Are  persecu- 
ted  in  England. — Articles  exliibited  against  Wicliffc. — His 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

expulsion  from  Oxford. — Retires  to  Lutterworth. — His  death. 
— Effects  of  his  writings  on  the  Continent. — Henry  IV.,  his 
severity  against  the  teachers  of  the  "  New  Doctrines." — 
Archbishop  Arundel,  his  cruelty  towards  them. — Oxford  visi- 
ted by  twelve  inquisitors. — Libraries  pillaged. — Lord  Cobham 
arraigned  for  heresy. — Convicted  and  burnt. — Council  held 
at  Constance. — Condemns  John  Huss. — And  Jerome  of 
Prague. — Withdraws  the  cup  from  the  laity. — Infamous  or- 
der respectmg  the  bones  of  WicliiFe. — How  this  Council  dis- 
appointed public  expectation. — Council  of  Basil  denies  the 
Pope's  supremacy. — The  Reformation  advances. — Art  of 
printing ;  its  providential  discovery. — Immortahty  of  the 
Popes. — Leo  X.  ;  how  infamous. — Publishes  his  hcence  for 
the  sale  of  indulgences. — John  Tetzel. — Martin  Luther  oppo- 
ses this  miquitous  sale. — Bums  the  Papal  bull. — Diet  of 
Worms  condemns  him. — Melanchthon  and  Zuingle  carry 
for«^ard  the  Reformation. — Protestants,  where  and  why  so 
first  called. — Present  their  Confession  of  Faith  at  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg. — Differences  between  them  and  Roman  Cathohcs 
irreconcilable. — League  of  Smaicald,  what. — Peace  conclu- 
ded vWth  the  Protestants  at  Nuremberg 131 — 154 

CHAPTER  VL 

The  Reformation  in  Germany  anxiously  regarded  by  England. 
Books  and  Tracts  widely  spread. — Tindall's  Translation  of 
the  New  Testament  circulated. — Henry  VIII.  unexpectedly 
forwards  the  Reformation. — His  scruples  respecting  his  mar- 
riage. Employs  Cranmer  in  the  matter  of  the  divorce. — 
Refers  it  to  the  Pope. — Clement  VII.  his  cautious  cunning. 
— Henry  resolves  to  act  independently. — Proclaims  his  di- 
vorce, and  marries  Ann  Boleyn. — Advances  Cranmer  to  the 
primacy. — Declares  himself  head  of  the  Church. — The  Par- 
liament asserts  the  independence  of  England. — Payment  of 
Peter-pence  forbidden. — The  King's  letter  to  the  clergy, 
what. — His  resumption  of  the  ancient  prerogative  of  British 
monarchs. — Suppresses  many  religious  houses. — How  dis- 
poses of  their  lands. — Origin  and  evil  effects  of  lay  impropria- 
tions.— Cranmer  and  Latimer,  how  opposed  to  them. — Miles 


CONTENTS.  '  XXV 

PAGE 

Coverdale  publishes  the  Bible  in  English. — Injunctions  to 
the  clergy,  what. — Cranmer's  Bible. — His  Ten  Articles,  how 
imperfect. — Tlie  King's  waywardness. — Bishop  Gardiner  and 
the  Six  Articles. — Cranmer  opposed  to  them. — Popery  tri- 
umphs for  a  time. — Henr\''s  mind  is  poisoned  against  the 
Protestants.— Cromwell's  disgrace  and  execution. — EfFt-ct  of 
this  persec'-xtion  on  Craimier. — Utterly  rejects  the  doctrine  of 
Transnbstantiation. — His  simimary  of  Doctrine. — 'How  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  faith. — The  King  again  supports 
the  Reformers. — His  proclamation  for  the  circulation  of  t\\e 
Scriptures.— Bishop  Bonner  endeavors  to  counteract  it. — 
The  Reform  iiion,  how  advanced  by  the  King's  marriage 
with  Catherine  Parr. — Gardiner's  Jesuitical  proposal  re- 
specting the  EngHsh  Bible. — How  negatived  by  Cranmer. — 
Image -worship  proliibited  by  Convocation.— The  Pope's 
name  is  expunged  from  the  Liturgj*. — Bishop  Bonner  forced 
to  forbid  dramatic  exhibitions  in  chm-ches. — Henry  still 
shows  himself  but  half  a  Protestant. — Restricts  the  free 
reading  of  the  Scriptures. — The  King's  Book,  what  attempts 
made  to  rain  Cranmer. — Severity  of  the  Six  Articles  mitiga- 
ted.— Romanists  succeed  in  altering  the  law  of  succession  in 
favour  of  Mar)-. — A  fresh  conspiracy  against  Cranmer. — Is 
protected  by  Henry's  favour. — Who  now  forwards  the  Refor* 
mation  to  the  utmost  of  his  power. — Gardiner  falls  into  dis- 
grace.— The  Duke  of  Norfolk  is  imprisoned. — Earl  of  Surrey 
is  beheaded. — Death  of  King  Henry. — His  friendship  for 
Cranmer. — ^Miserable  state  o^  the  Church.     .     .     .     155 — 176 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Henry's  death  why  not  lamented  by  the  Reformers. — Political 
considerations  the  moving  spring  of  his  conduct. — Edward 
VI..  his  youthful  piety. — Calls  for  a  Bible  at  his  coronation. 
— Commissioners  conduct  the  Government. — Their  difficr.lt 
duties. — Their  prudence. — Coimcil  of  Trent. — Disappoints 
the  hopes  of  all  parties. — Reformers  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land act  diiferently. — Attack  at  once  the  idolatr\'  of  the 
Church   of  Rome. — Injunctions  against   image-worship  and 


XXVI  '  CONTENTS. 

PAGfi 
shrines. — Costliness  of  Becket's  shrine. — Pulpits  ordered  to 
be  provided. — Ten  Commandments  pnt  up  in  Churches. — In- 
dignation of  Gardiner  and  tlie  Papists. — Cranmer  publishes 
Twelve  Homilies. — On  what  subjects. — Every  parish  ordered 
to  provide  a  Bible,  and  Erasmus's  Paraphrase. — Cranmer's 
Catechism. — Happy  consequence  of  the  knowledge  thus  im- 
parted.— Subject  of  the  mass  inquired  into. — A  commission 
issued  for  preparing  a  new  form  of  administering  the  sacra- 
ment.— Prudent  conduct  of  the  Commissioners. — Condemn 
"solitary"  and  "satisfactory  masses." — The  sacrament  no 
longer  to  be  administered  in  the  Latin  tongue. — Office  of  the 
communion  arranged. — The  Roman  Missal,  what. — How 
divided. — Mass  of  the  Catechumens. — Mass  of  the  Faithftdi 
— A  prayer  from  the  Mass  and  Breviary. — The  Decalogue 
revised,  and  the  Second  Commandment  restored. — The  Lit- 
urgy next  examined. — Ancient  British  Liturgy,  whence  de^ 
rived. — How  corresponding  with  the  present  Church  Liturgy. 
— Bidding  prayers,  what. — Scripture  selections  restored  to  the 
service. — Variety  of  services. — How  corrupted. — The  two 
sacramental  offices  especially. — Absolving  power  of  the 
priests,  and  confession,  how  abused. — The  Reformers  com- 
mence with  the  reconstruction  of  the  daily  services. — Their 
groundwork,  what. — The  foreign  divines  help  in  this  work. — 
To  what  extent. — The  absolution  whence  borrowed. — The 
morning  service,  of  what  composed. — The  burial  service  ar- 
ranged.— How  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory. — Book 
of  Common  Prayer  and  Offi-ces  completed. — Act  of  Unifor- 
mity passed  for  its  adoption. — Singing  Psalms  authorized  in 
Churches. — Wyatt's  and  Sternhold's  Collection. — The  new 
Liturgy  is  first  brought  into  use. — How  evaded  by  some  of 
the  clergy. — A  royal  visitation  commanded  in  consequence. — 
Several  abuses  and  corruptions  corrected. — Markets  held  in 
churchyards. — The  Princess  Mary  refuses  to  conform. — Ap- 
peals to  the  Emperor  against  the  order  of  council. — Is  left 
unmolested. — Romish  emissaries  stir  up  the  peasantry  to  re- 
sist.— Especially  in  Devon  and  Cornwall. — Humphrey  Arun- 
del heads  the  rebels. — Lord  Russell  sent  against  them. — Ne- 


CONTENTS.  XXVll 

PAGE 

gotiation  entered  into. — Anindcl  proposes  eight  articles. — In- 
Bists  on  the  re-enactment  of  "  the  Bloody  Act." — Negotiation 
broken  off — Insurgents  are  attacked  and  defeated. — Bonner, 
Bishop  of  London,  his  character. — Is  commanded  to  preach 
at  Paid's  cross. — Is  denounced  by  Hooper  and  Latimer. 
Brought  before  a  commission. — His  insolence  and  obstinacy. 
— Is  deprived  of  his  bishopric  and  imprisoned. — A  great  blow 
to  the  Romanists.- — How  counterbalanced. — Downfall  of  the 
Protector  Somerset. — Earl  of  Warwick,  his  successor,  sides 
with  the  Reformers. — The  Reformation  is  nearly  overthrown 
in  Germany. — Artifice  of  the  Emperor  Charles. — The  "  In- 
terim," what. — Is  rejected  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony. — The 
German  Reformers  are  invited  to  England. — Bucer  and  Peter 
Martyr  made  professors  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge. — Contro- 
versy at  Oxford  respecting  Transubstantiation. — Dr.  Tres- 
ham  is  baffled  by  Peter  Martyr. — Bucer  also  at  Cambridge 
disputes  successfully  with  the  Romanists. — A  fresh  order  in 
coimcil  issued  against  the  Papists. — Office  of  the  ordinal 
drawn  up. — Minor  orders  are  rejected. — What  retained. — 
Various  superstitious  practices  discontinued. — The  interroga- 
tor}' part  of  the  ordination  service,  how  altered. — Objections 
against  the  question  put  to  deacons,  answered. — Absolving 
power  of  the  priest,  how  limited  in  the  ordination  service. — 
Also  in  the  visitation  service  for  the  sick. — Power  of  "  bind- 
ing" and  "  loosing"  explained. — Liturgical  Commissioners 
complete  their  labours.  State  of  public  feeling. — Cranmcr's 
wise  policy. — Determines  to  curb  the  discordant  opinions  of 
the  day. — Reasons  for  establishing  a  public  Confession  of 
Faith. — Defects  of  the  German  Confessions. — Unsuccessful 
attempts  to  unite  the  British  and  German  Reformers. — Cran- 
mer  limits  his  plan  to  the  former. — Proceeds  to  draw  up  ar- 
ticles of  faith.  Bv  whom  assisted. — Inquiry  as  to  their  Cal- 
vinistic  tendency. — Subsequent  alterations,  what. — Forly-two 
articles  are  approved  by  Convocation. — Subscription  required 
of  the  clergy. — When  revised. — Paley's  opinion  of  their  use- 
fulness.— ^Commendation  of  the  Reformers. — God's  special 
blessing  on  their  labours. — Character  and  stability  of  the 
Church  of  England 177—223 


XXVin  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

Recapitulation  of  the  whole  subject.  Points  already  proved. 
The  pure  faith  triumphs.  The  Reformers  adhere  to  the 
Scriptures.  The  rule  adopted  by  them  in  reforming  the 
Church,  what.  Preface  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  di- 
rects to  the  ancient  Fathers  as  the  standard  of  Protestant 
faith  and  worship.  Charge  of  novelty  no  longer  of  any 
force  against  the  Church  of  England.  Address  to  Roman 
CathoUcs  and  Protestants.     Conclusion 224 — 232 

APPENDIX. 

No.  1.  Letter  from  the  Earl  of    Manchester  to  his  son,  Mr. 

Montague,  on  changing   his  religion 233 

No.  II.  Ancient  Churches  of  the  Vaudois,  and  Syro-Christians 

in  India. 251 

No.  III.  The  ancient  universities  of  England  shown  to  be  not 

of  Roman  CathoUc  foimdation 256 

No.  IV.  A   Protestant's   Reasons  for   the    independence    and 

Protestantism  of  the  ancient  British  Church 266 

No.  V.  Differences  between  the  Churches  of  England  and  of 

Rome 270 

No.  VI.  St.  Jerome,  on  Matt.  xvi.  19 271 

No.  VII.  B.  Gregory  on  the  Pope's  Supremacy 273 

No.  VIII.  Protest  of  the  British  Bishops  in  the  ancient  Cor- 
nish language 274 

No.  IX.  Additional  notices  respecting  the  present  state  of  Per- 

ranzabuloe 275 


CHAPTER  I. 


"  Regarded  as  a  building,  what  is  there  to  engage  our  attention? 
You  would  not  find  a  house  perhaps  in  the  neighbourhood,  which 
would  not,  as  a  mere  building,  be  more  attractive.  What  then  is 
it,  which  in  this  building  inspires  the  veneration  and  affection  it 
commands  ?  We  have  mused  upon  it,  when  its  grey  walls  dully 
reflected  the  glory  of  the  noontide  sun.  We  have  looked  upon 
it  from  a  neighbouring  hill,  when  bathed  in  the  pure  light  of  a 
summer's  moon — its  lowly  walls  and  tiny  tower  seemed  to  stand 
only  as  the  shell  of  a  larger  and  ruder  monument,  amidst  the  me- 
morials of  the  dead.  Look  upon  it  when  and  where  we  will, 
w^e  find  our  affections  yearn  towards  it ;  and  we  contemplate  the 
little  parish  church  with  a  delight  and  revererence  that  palaces 
cannot  command.  Whence  then  arises  this  ?  It  arises  not  from 
the  beauties  and  ornaments  of  the  building,  but /row  <^e  thoughts 
and  recollections  associated  with  it.'''' — Molesworth's  Sunday 
Reader,  No.  1. 

The  stranger,  who,  in   that  joyous   season, 

when  all  nature  is  bursting  into   life,   traverses 

the  lovely  scenes  of  southern   Devon,  and  with 

thoughts  still  glowing  with   the   recollection  of 

her   soft  and  verdant  valleys,   her  deeply-em- 

3 


2  PERRANZABULOE. 

bowered  lanes,  her  meadows  enamelled  with  a 
thousand  flowers,  crosses  the  dark  waters  of  the 
Tamar,  and  from  its  wooded  and  high-towering 
banks,  bears  with  him  the  further  remembrance 
of  her  more  romantic  and  sterner  beauties — Oh ! 
let  him  say,  in  the  warmth  of  his  recollections, 
as  he  approaches  the  north-western  coast  of 
Cornwall,  how  wild  and  cheerless  is  that  long, 
bleak,  barren  belt  of  sand  that  girds  the  shore 
of  Perran's  Bay!  The  intervening  moors, 
through  which  he  has  reached  that  desolate  dis- 
trict, are,  of  themselves,  sufficiently  uninviting 
to  any  admirer  of  nature's  more  attractive  sce- 
nery— and  yet  are  they  not  altogether  destitute 
of  interest — the  purple  heather,  and  the  gorse's 
saffron  blossoms,  and  the  busy  hum  of  bees,  as 
they  collect  their  golden  treasure  from  the  fra- 
grant thyme,  give  life  and  animation  to  the 
scene — and  many  a  relic  of  olden  times,  which 
still  tells  of  Cornish  prowess,  or  Cornish  super- 
stition, emplo3^s  the  thoughts,  and  serves  to  in- 
vest with  a  peculiar  interest  those  uncultivated 
moorlands  which  on  every  side  terminate  the 
prospect,  and  almost  without  the  aid  of  poetic 
fiction — 

" immeasurably  spread, 

Seem  lengthening  as  you  go." 

Yet  these  moors,  wild  and  interminable  as 
they  appear,  stand  out  in  striking  relief  to  the 
sea-girt  tract  that  now  bounds  the  way.     What 


PERRANZABULOE.  3 

is  there  here  to  gladden  the  heart  of  the  passing 
stransrer  ?  Not  a  tuft  of  verdure  refreshes  his 
wearied  sight — not  a  tree  Hfts  up  its  branches 
to  offer  him  its  friendly  shade — even  the  gorse 
and  the  heather,  those  children  of  the  desert, 
refuse  any  longer  to  bear  him  company  ;  he 
pursues  his  solitary  way — waste  after  waste  of 
undulating  sand  meets  him  at  every  step — and 
the  hollow  moan  of  the  Atlantic  waves,  as  they 
lash  the  distant  Cligga,*  or  sullenly  retire  from 
the  adjacent  shore,  falls  upon  his  ear  in  sounds 
responsive  to  the  wildness  of  the  place.  All 
nature  is  here  in  a  garment  of  sadness.  The 
very  birds  of  heaven  avoid  the  spot,  and  the  sea- 
mews,  soaring  on  high,  scream  piteously  over 
this  region  of  desolation,  and  with  hasty  wing 
betake  themselves  to  the  rocks  and  the  waves, 
as  less  wild,  and  less  unfriendly.  The  stranger 
passes  on — he  quickens  his  step — and  with 
anxious  gaze  looks  forward  to  the  termination 
of  this  tedious  way.  But  a  tract,  if  possible 
still  more  forbidding,  rises  before  him  with  in- 
creasing barrenness.  A  succession  of  sand  hills, 
varying  in  their  elevation,  inclose  him  in  on  every 
side,  and  by  intercepting  his  view  of  the  sea  in 
some  parts,  casting  their  dark  shadows  on  it  in 
others,  stamp  on  every  quarter  the  character  of 
more  than  ordinary  loneliness  and  melancholy. 

"  A  rocky  point  in  Perran's  Bay. 


•i  PERRAXZABrLOE. 

Yet  it  is  a  spot  full  of  the  deepest  interest — a 
solitude  of  the  most  heart-stirrine  recollections  ! 
Oh  stranger,  whoever  thou  art,  '*  put  off  thy 
shoes  from  thv  feet — thou  treadest  on  holv 
ground!" — thou  standest  over  a  sacred  memo- 
rial of  by-gone  days  !  Dear  to  every  faithful 
son  of  En^^land's  Church,  are  the  verv  stones 
that  moulder  here — surely  they  would  lift  up 
their  voices,  though  history's  page  were  silent — 
thev  would  crv  out  of  the  dust,  though  their 
story  had  not  been  embalmed  in  the  memories 
ofComishmen,  who  have  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  the  imperishable  re- 
cord of  their  ancient  glory.  But  history  is  not 
silent,  and  popular  tradition,  confirmed  by  an- 
tiquarian research,  has  long  pointed  to  Perran- 
zabuloe,  as  the  site  and  sepulchre  of  an  ancient 
British  Church,  founded  at  a  very  remote  pe- 
riod, flourishing  for  a  succession  of  ages  in  the 
midst  of  a  very  fertile  district,  and  dispensing 
to  a  rude  but  religious  people  the  blessings  of 
Christianity,  in  its  simplest  form  of  primitive 
purity.  At  that  distant  day,  the  northern  bound- 
ary of  the  extensive  Hundred  of  Pydar  yielded 
to  none  other  in  Cornwall,  either  in  the  feniuty 
of  its  soil,  or  the  abundance  of  its  produce. 
Alas  !  how  has  '•  the  fruitful  place  become  a 
wilderness,"  and  "  the  pleasant  portion  a  deso- 
lation ! " 

At  the  time  when  Christianitv  v.-as  first  in- 


PERRANZABULOE.  5 

troduced  into  Cornwall,  the  people,  like  all  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  British  islands,  were  de- 
voted to  the  strange  religion  of  the  Druids,  a 
religion  that  seems  to  have  been  a  singular  com- 
bination  of  the  worship  of  many  gods,  with  a  be- 
lief in  one  God.  They  believed  in  some  great 
universal  IntelUgence,  and  at  the  same  time  wor- 
shipped the  Host  of  Heaven.  Yet  the  sun,  the 
moon,  and  the  stars,  were  not  the  onlv  objects 
of  their  veneration — the  sublimest  and  wildest 
objects  of  nature  were  transformed  into  so  many 
deities.  Rocks  and  cataracts,  and  torrents,  and 
stately  oak  trees,  were  all  the  abode  of  some  su- 
pernatural intelligence.  Their  priests,  combin- 
ing in  themselves  all  political  as  well  as  religious 
authority,  offered  human  sacrifices  on  every 
altar.  Cornwall,  from  the  natural  boldness  and 
wildness  of  its  scenery,  seems  to  have  been 
more  than  any  other  portion  of  Britain,  the  fa- 
vorite seat  of  Druidism.  Hence  the  numerous 
altars,  circles,  basins,  and  cromlechs,  which  still 
abound  in  that  interesting  countrv — and  which, 
thi-ough  its  length  and  its  breadth,  from  Tintagel 
to  Castle  Trervn — from  the  frowning  rocks  of 
Carn-bre  '*  to  Duloe's  dark  stream,"  proclaim 
bv  their  number  and  their  magnitude,  *'  there 
were  giants  in  those  davs.'' 

"  The  people,  no  doubt,  partook  of  the  sa- 
vage wildness  of  their  rugged  mountains,  and 
the  barbarous  character  of  their  inhuman  creed ; 


b  PERRANUABULOE. 

and  though  their  intercourse  with  the  Phoenician 
merchants  must  have  largely  contributed  to  their 
civilization,  and  have  rendered  them  more  easily 
accessible  to  those  early  missionaries,  who  of- 
fered them  a  merchandize  better  than  of  silver 
or  gold,  still  they  did  not  readily  relinquish  a 
religion  that  was  so  blended  with  their  national 
feelings  and  institutions,  and  so  closely  associa- 
ted with  their  wild  and  romantic  scenery,  and 
therefore  were  slower  than  the  other  inhabitants 
of  Britain  in  embracing  the  humbling  doctrines 
of  a  meek  and  crucified  Saviour.  At  what  mo- 
ment Christianity  was  first  planted  in  Cornwall, 
historians  are  by  no  means  agreed.  It  is,  how- 
ever, probable,  that  it  was  introduced  early  in 
the  third  century,  for  we  find  that,  soon  after 
the  Saxons  landed  in  Britain,  and  spread  their 
conquest  from  east  to  west,  "  the  Cornish  pur- 
chased, by  an  annual  tribute,  from  Cerdocius, 
permission  still  to  exercise  the  rites  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion."*  We  also  know  that,  about  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Solomon,  Duke  of 
Cornwall,  openly  professed  Christianity  ;  and 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  the  true  faith  must 
have  made  great  progress  there,  even  at  that 
early  day,  inasmuch  as  the  nobles,  clergy,  and 
people  were,  at  the  end  of  this  century,  "living 

*  Rudborne's  Chron.  lib.  ii.  ch.  i.     Hist.  Maj.  Winton.  Angl. 
Sac.  i.  187. 


PERRANZABULOE.  7 

happily    together    in    the    bonds   of  Christian 
unit}^"* 

The  first  Cornish  Apostle,  of  any  note,  was 
Corantinus  (now  called  Cury,)  born  in  Brittany, 
who  first  preached  to  his  own  countrymen,  and 
then  to  the  Irish,  till  being  violently  expelled 
from  that  island,  he  passed  over  into  Cornwall, 
and  settled  at  last  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
called  Menehont,t  was  consecrated  bishop  by 
St.  Martin,  Bishop  of  Tours,  and  had  the  satis- 
faction of  converting  almost  the  whole  of  Corn- 
wall before  his  death,  a.  d.  4014  Scarcely  was 
Corantinus  gathered  to  his  fathers,  when  a  more 
celebrated  man  than  himself  landed  in  Cornwall, 
and,  from  his  extraordinary  sanctity,  acquired 
the  highest  reputation  amongst  the  people. 

This  illustrious  man  was  Piranus,  born  of 
noble  parents,  in  the  county  of  Ossory,  in  Ire- 
land, A.  D.  352,  where  he  passed  the  first  thirty 
years  of  his  age,  leading  a  life  of  strict  morality, 
though  not  yet  converted  to  the  Christian  faith. 
About  the  year  382,  his  conversion  having  been 
effected  by  the  conversationof  a  Christian  laic, || 
he  determined  to  visit  Rome,  where  he  heard 
that  that  fiiith  into  which  he  had  long  desired  to 
be  baptized,  was  sincerely  taught  and  faithfully 

*  Whitaker,  sect.  1.  p.  32. 

t  Supposed  to  be  Meuhenuiot,  near  Liskeard. 

t  Borlase,  Antiq.  p.  3G9. 

U  Vid.  Usher,  John  of  Tinmouth,  and  Britau.  Sancta. 


8  PERRANZABULOE. 

practised.  He  accordingly  went  to  the  imperial 
city,  was  further  instructed  in  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  then  baptized.  He  devoted  some 
years  afterwards  to  the  diligent  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  the  collecting  of  books,  and  the  prac- 
tice of  Christian  virtues,  when,  according  to  the 
Irish  historians,  he  was  ordained  bishop,  and 
sent  back  to  Ireland,  in  company  with  five  other 
holy  priests,  who  were  all  afterwards  bishops  ; 
viz :  Lugacius,  Columban,  Meldanus,  Lugad, 
and  Cass  an. 

His  first  residence  was  in  the  heart  of  Ire- 
land, in  a  place  encompassed  with  woods  and 
morasses,  close  to  a  lake  called  Fuaran  :  here 
he  built  himself  a  cell  for  his  habitation,  to 
which  his  sanctity  attracted  such  multitudes, 
that  a  town  was  at  last  built  there,  called  Saiger, 
"  now,  from  the  name  of  the  saint,  commonly 
called  Sierkeran.*  Here,  he  showed  all  con- 
cord, and  subjection,  and  discipleship  to  St. 
Patrick,  present  or  absent,"  and  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  converting  that  savage  people  ;  and, 
among  others,  his  mother,  called,  according  to 
Usher,  Liadan ;  or,  with  greater  probability, 
according  to  Leland,t  Wingela,  and  all  his  fami- 
ly, who  constituted  the  clan  of  the  Osraigi. 

*  St.  Kieman  is  called  by  the  Britons  Piran,  by  a  change  of 
letters  usual  in  their  language  ;  some  Latins  call  him  Queranus." 
Brit.  Sanct.  p.  154. 

t  Leland,  Itin.  III.  195. 


PERRANZABULOE.  9 

In  confirmation  of  his  doctrine,  and  in  testi- 
mony of  his  sanctity,  his  chroniclers  assert  that 
God  was  pleased  to  work  great  miracles  by  his 
hands  ;  and  so  great  was  his  renown,  that  his 
cell  was  daily  thronged  with  visitors  from  all 
parts  of  Ireland,  whose  numbers  and  officious- 
ness  became  at  last  so  intolerable  to  the  saint, 
that  aivino-  out  that  he  had  received  a  divine 
call,  and  v.- as  desirous  of  preparing  himself  for 
his  latter  end  by  a  more  [)erfect  retirement  from 
all  worldly  distractions,  he  passed  over  into 
Cornwall,*  taking  with  him  his  mother,  and 
Breaca,  Sinninus,  Germochus,  la,  and  many 
others,  who,  landing  at  St.  Ives,  dispersed  them- 
selves over  the  country,  and  acquired  such  vene- 
ration among  the  people,  on  account  of  their 
piety,  that  the  Cornish  have  consecrated  almost 
all  their  towns  to  the  memory  of  Irish  saints  : 
"  witness,"  says  Camden,  "  St.  Burian,  St.  Ives, 
St.  Columb,  St.  Mewan,  St.  Erben,  St.  Eval, 
St.  Wenn,  and  St.  Enedor."t 

These  holy  missionaries,  who  accompanied 
Piranus,  took  different  directions  ;  some  went  to 
the  north,  and  others  to  the  south,  "  while  la  re- 
mained at  Pendinas  on  the  west,  and  Piranus 
went  to  the  east,  and  settled   himself  in  a  dis- 

*  There  is  an  absurd  tradition  current  in  the  country,  that 
says,  he  was  abhged  to  iloat  over  to  Cornwall  upon  a  mill-stoue, 
as  St.  Petroc  floated  to  Padstow  upon  an  altar. 

t  John  of  Tinmouth. 


10  PERRANZABULOE. 

trict  near  the  sea,  that  is  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Perranzabuloe,"  or  St.  Pieran  in  the 
Sand.* 

Here  the  holy  man  fixed  his  abode  close  to  a 
spring  of  water,  that  still  bears  his  name,  but 
which  was  anciently  called  Fenton  Berran. 
While  "  from  this  w^ell  he  drew  his  beverage, "t 
he  dailv  refreshed  the  multitudes  who  throns^ed 
around  him  with  the  living  waters  of  eternal 
life — instructed  the  ignorant,  confirmed  the  weak, 
and  earnestly  exhorted  them  to  turn  from  their 
dumb  idols,  and  worship  their  spiritual  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  But  it  was  not  only  that 
"  knowledge  which  maketh  wise  unto  salvation," 
that  Piranus  imparted  to  them  from  the  pure 
word  of  God — from  the  abundant  stores  of  a 
highly  cultivated  mind,  he  instructed  them  in 
many  of  those  elements  of  knowledge  that  are 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  common  life — more 
especially  communicating  to  them  the  art  and 
mystery  of  working  and  reducing  from  their  ox- 
ides the  metals  which  abound  in  that  neighbor- 
hood. So  that,  with  good  reason,  the  Cornish 
miners  have  always  regarded  with  peculiar  vene- 
ration the  name  of  Piranus,  as  their  tutelary  saint 

*  rerranzabuloe  takes  its  name  from  "  Piranus  in  sabulo," 
Pirau  in  the  fine  sand  (sabuliim.)  In  the  ancient  Cornish  lan- 
guage it  is  "Pieran  in  Treth."  In  the  Lib.  Val.  of  Hen.  VIII.  it 
is  called  Piran  in  Zabulo  ;  while  in  Tanner's  Not.  Mon.  it  is  called 
Piran-Sanz. 

t  Tonkins'  MS.  as  quoted  by  Borlase. 


PERRANUABULOE.  11 

and  benefactor.  Even  at  this  day  his  memory 
is  cherished  throughout  Cornwall,  where,  on  the 
5th  of  March,  the  "  tinners  keep  his  feast,  and 
hold  a  fair  on  the  same  day  near  his  Church,"* 
"  being  allowed  money  to  make  merry  withal, 
in  honor  of  St.  Piranus,"t  their  benefactor. 

A  benefactor  he  was  in  truth  to  the  souls 
and  bodies  of  thousands  whose  ignorance  he  en- 
lightened, whose  fliith  he  strengthened,  and 
among  whom  he  left  a  pure,  simple,  unadulte- 
rated form  of  Christian  worship,  such  as  became 
a  Church  as  3^et  unpolluted  by  human  invention 
and  unscriptural  tradition. 

The  venerable  saint  could  now,  in  the  de- 
cline of  years,  triumphantly  point  to  the  success 
of  his  missionary  labors  ;  and  having  finished 
his  course,  and  kept  the  faith,  he  was  ready  to 
depart.  Sensible  of  his  approaching  end,  he 
called  his  disciples  around  him,  and,  like  one  of 
the  faithful  patriarchs  of  old,  calmly  but  earn- 
estly discoursed  to  them  concerning  the  king- 
dom of  God — exhorted  them  to  strive  earnestly 
for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints — to  re- 
member they  were  members  of  Christ's  mysti- 
cal body,  and  therefore  "  in  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  had  made  them  free,"  were  no  longer 
in  bondage  to  any  man,  to  serve  any  human 
creature,  but  Christ  their  Lord  and  Head.     He 

*  Tonkins'  MS.  t  Dr.  Boiiase. 


12  PERRANZABULOE. 

entreated  them  to  "  search  the  Scriptures  daily," 
and  to  consider  them  their  only  infalhble  rule 
of  faith,  as  being  amply  sufficient,  with  the 
teaching  of  God's  Spirit,  to  "  make  them  wise 
unto  salvation."  He  forwarned  them  of  evil 
days  that  should  arise  to  the  Church  of  Christ, 
when,  according  to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy, 
there  should  come  "  a  falling  away  first,  and 
that  man  of  sin  should  be  revealed,  the  son  of 
perdition,  who  should  oppose  and  exalt  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worship- 
ped ;  so  that  he,  as  God,  should  sit  in  the  tem- 
ple of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God"* — 
when  "  the  mystery  of  iniquity  should  work," 
"  sitting  on  the  seven  hills "  (of  Rome,)  and 
*'  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the 
blood  of  prophets,  and  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus," 
*'  should  reign  over  the  kings  of  the  earth," 
"  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders. "t 
"  And  now,"  concluded  the  dying  saint,  "  'I 
am  going  the  way  of  all  flesh,'  and  after  my  de- 
partue  '  I  fear  lest  by  any  means,  as  the  serpent 
beguiled  Eve  through  his  subtilty,  so  your  minds 
should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is 
in  Christ.'  '  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  profes- 
sion of  your  faith  without  wavering ; '  '  and  be- 
ware lest  any  man  spoil  you  through  philosophy 
and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  and 

*  2  Thess.  ii.  3.  t  Rev.  xvii.and  2  Thess.  ii.  9. 


PERRANZABULOE.  13 

not  after  Christ.'*  And  be  not  '  ignorant  con- 
cerning them  which  sleep,  that  ye  sorrow  not, 
even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For  if  ye 
believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with 
him.^i  *  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the 
death  of  his  saints.'  "I 

Such  were  the  scriptural  words  of  warning, 
comfort,  and  exhortation,  which  flowed  from 
the  lips  of  the  holy  man,  as  he  poured  forth  his 
soul  unto  death  ;  then,  with  the  triumphant 
composure  of  one  rejoicing  in  the  near  prospect 
of  his  crown  of  righteousness,  Piran  calmly 
commanded  his  grave  to  be  dug,||  and  with  a 
resolute  step  descending  into  it,  he  kneeled 
down ;  there,  with  clasped  hands  and  uplifted 
eyes,  he  meekly  surrendered  his  soul  into  the 
hands  of  his  Creator.  His  sorrowing  friends  re- 
echoed his  dying  words,  and  the  valleys  rung 
with  the  loud  response,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord  ;  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit, 
that  they  may  rest  from  their  labours. "§ 

On  a  spot  so  dear  to  memor}^,  as  enshrining 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  beloved  bishop  and 
pastor  of  their  souls,  his  affectionate  flock  imme- 
diately erected,  with  their  own  hands,  a  church 
inscribed  with  his  name,  and  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  that  pure  religion  which  he  so  faith- 

*  Col.  ii.  8.  t  1  Thess.  iv.  13.  t  1  Pgal.  cxvi.  15. 

II  John  of  Tinmouth,  Usher,  <fcc.  $  Rev.  xiv.  13. 


14  PERRANZABULOE. 

fully  taught ;  there  the  unadulterated  word  of 
God  was  intelligibly  read  and  faithfully  ex- 
pounded ;  there  the  two  sacraments,  ordained 
by  Christ  himself  as  generally  necessary  to  sal- 
vation, were  rightly  and  duly  administered ; 
there  "  the  incense  "  of  prayer,  and  *'  the  pure 
offering "  of  praise,  were  daily  lifted  to  that 
name  which  already  was  great  among  the  hea- 
then ;  and  there  the  flame  which  Piran  had 
kindled  in  the  hearts  of  Cornishmen,  burnt 
brightly  and  steadily  for  many  successive  gene- 
rations. 

The  church  of  St.  Piran,  thus  erected  over 
the  body  of  so  good  and  great  a  man,  became 
the  resort  of  Christian  worshippers  from  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  took  a  conspicuous  lead 
in  diffusing  the  light  of  pure  religion  throughout 
the  country.  The  Britons  had  already  become 
as  highly  distinguished  for  the  purity  and  sim- 
plicity of  their  faith,  as  they  had  been  before  for 
their  blind  superstition  and  barbarous  idolatry. 
*'  How  often  in  Britain,"  says  Chrysostom,  w^ho 
lived  in  the  4th  century,  "  did  men  eat  the  flesh 
of  their  own  kind  !  Now  they  refresh  their  souls 
with  fastings."*  And  St.  Jerome,  writing  about 
the  same  time,  says,  with  a  more  direct  refer- 
ence to  Cornwall,  "  the  Britons  who  live  apart 
from  our  world,  if  they  go  in  pilgrimage,  will 

*  Serm.  on  Pentecost. 


PERRANZABULOE.  15 

leave  the  western  imrts^  and  seek  Jerusalem, 
known  to  them  by  fame  only,  and  by  the  Scrip- 
turesy*  The  Scriptures,  therefore,  were,  with- 
out doubt,  freely  circulated,  and  as  freely  read 
at  this  early  period  ;  and  proved,  in  after  times, 
when  the  national  Church  of  Britain  became 
overwhelmed  with  the  corruptions  of  an  anti- 
christian  and  foreign  domination,  the  two-edged 
sword  with  which  they  repelled  the  sorceries  of 
the  "  beast."  Armed  with  this  weapon  of  hea- 
venly temper,  long  did  the  Cornish  people  re- 
sist the  repeated  encroachments  of  Rome,  and 
refused  to  surrender  their  independence,  or  even 
to  hold  any  communion  whatever  with  so  cor- 
rupt and  apostate  a  church. 

This  determined  resistance — this  spirited  as- 
sertion of  their  independence,  was  remarkably 
exhibited  on  a  question  that  had  already  called 
forth  the  spirit  of  defiance  from  the  British 
Church  in  general ;  namely,  the  time  for  keep- 
ino:  Easter.  The  Saxons,  who  had  been  con- 
verted  by  St.  Augustin,  following  the  practice 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  celebrated  it  on  the  Sun- 
day next  after  the  Jewish  Passover  ;  while  the 
Cornish,  in  conformity  with  all  the  Asiatic 
churches,  and  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  them- 
selves, kept  it  on  the  same  day  as  the  Jewish 
Passover  was  held.     Their  resolute   refusal  to 

*  Epist.  ad  Marcellam. 


16  PERRANZABULOE. 

comply  with  the  Romish  practice  drew  upon 
them  and  the  British  Church  in  general,  the  bit- 
terest invectives  of  their  enemies.  One  histo- 
rian of  the  day,  in  consequence  of  their  refusal, 
calls  them  in  common  with  all  the  British,  "  a 
perfidious  nation,  a  detestable  army  ;"*  another 
denounces  them  as  "  a  polluted  people,"  (con- 
taminata  gens  ;)t  and  a  third  declares  that  the 
Britons  are  a  wdcked  and  cursed  nation,  for  thus 
rejecting  the  practice  of  Rome.i  Another  old 
writer,  in  rather  milder  terms,  speaking  of  the 
firm  adherence  of  the  Cornish,  and  the  people 
of  West  and  North  Wales,  (Demecia  et  Venedo- 
cia,)  to  their  ancient  faith^  says,  "  Yet  are  they 
thought  only  reprehensible  on  this  account,  that 
always  even  to  this  day,  they  mortally  hate  the 
English,  (Saxons,)  as  if  they  were  by  them  pro- 
scribed from  their  own  territories,  nor  will  they 
hold  any  communion  with  them,  more  than  if 
they  were  so  many  dogs."|| 

After  the  death  of  king  Arthur,  in  the  fatal 
battle  that  was  fought  in  Cornwall,  a.  d.  542, 
the  Saxons  prevailed  in  nearly  every  part  of 
England,  and  strove  as  far  as  they  could  to  ex- 
tirpate Christianity  from  the  land.  The  poor 
Britons,  and  Christianity  together,  retreated  be- 
fore their  idolatrous  invaders,  and  sought  refuge 
at  last  in  the  extremities  of  the  island  ;  so  that, 

*  Huntington,  p.  187.  t  Malmsbury,  p.  28. 

X  Bede,  Eccl.  Hist.  ||  Matt.  Paris,  p.  104,  Edit.  Francof. 


PERRANRABULOE.  17 

in  597,  Theonus,  arcLbishop  of  London,  and 
Thadiocus,  archbishop  of  York,  seeing  all  their 
churches  destroyed,  their  clergy  fled  into  Wales 
and  Armorica,  and  the  Christians  everywhere 
expelled  from  the  country,  "  retired  with  other 
bishops  into  Cornwall  and  Wales,  where  by 
their  labors  they  so  plentifully  propagated  the 
Gospel,  that  they  made  those  parts,  especially 
above  all  others,  glorious  by  the  multitude  of 
their  holy  saints  and  learned  teachers."* 

In  the  following  century,  the  Saxons  being 
at  length  converted  to  Christianity,  though  the 
country  appears  to  have  been  much  overrun 
with  monks,  the  Cornish  successfully  maintain- 
ed their  ground,  and  even  managed  such  reli- 
gious societies  as  had  been  founded  among  them 
hj  rules  of  their  own.  This  is  evident  from  the 
reprimand  that  Geruntius,  king  of  the  Cornish 
Britons,  received  about  this  time  from  Aldhelm, 
bishop  of  Sherburn,  in  consequence  of  his  per- 
mitting the  monks  of  Cornwall  to  use  a  different 
tonsure  from  that  of  the  Romish  Church. — 
What  effect  this  ecclesiastical  censure  produced 
on  the  king  and  clergy,  does  not  appear  ;  but, 
without  doubt,  it  was  treated  with  the  contempt 
it  merited  ;  for,  "  though  the  Saxon  bishops  pre- 
tended a  right  to  direct  and  rule  the  Cornish  in 
matters  of  religion,    yet  in  reality  the  Cornish 

*  Usher,  Biit.  Eccl.  Antiq. 


18 


PERRANZABULOE. 


were  as  averse  to  receive  orders  from  them  as 
from  the  Saxon  princes,  with  whom  being  al- 
most constantly  at  war,  they  surrendered  nei- 
ther their  civil  nor  religious  rights — continuing 
Christians,  hnt  on  the  Jirst plan ,  independent,  though 
persecuted — and  esteeming  the  religion  of  the 
English  (Saxons)  as  nothing,  the  Cornish  would 
no  more  communicate  with  them  than  with  pa- 
gans, accounting  that  of  the  Welsh  and  themselves 
the  only  tru^  Christianity."* 

This  noble  independence  the  Cornish  main- 
tained with  unshaken  constancy,  till  the  synod 
convened  by  Edward  on  the  death  of  his  father 
Alfred,  a.  d.  905,  whereat  sundr}^  provisions 
were  made  expressly  with  the  view  of  recover- 
ing them  from  what  the  Saxons  called  "  their 
errors."  By  these  errors,  however,  we  are  to 
understand,  "  their  refusing  to  acknowledge  the 
papal  authority, ^^i 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  Britons  in  Corn- 
wall resisted  the  usurpations  of  Rome  much 
longer  than  the  rest  of  their  countrymen,  and  it 
was  not  till  the  above  named  year,  905,  that 
they  surrendered  any  portion  of  their  indepen- 
dence. At  that  fatal  period  "  Edward  the  El- 
der, with  the  Pope's  consent,  settled  a  Bishop's 
see  among  them,  which,  by  the  Pope's  power, 
then  greatly  prevailing,  in  a  short  time  reduced 

*  Usher,  Hist.  Brit.  Antiq.  p.  1152. 
t    Rapiu's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  112. 


PERRANZABULOE.  19 

them,  much  agamst  their  will  to  submit  their  an- 
cient faith*  to  the  conduct  of  impal  discipline.'''' \ 

*'  This  bishopric  was  founded  principally 
for  the  reduction  of  the  rebellious  Cornish  to 
the  Romish  rites,  who,  as  they  used  the 
language,  so  they  imitated  the  lives  and  doc- 
trine of  the  ancient  Britons,  neither  hitherto ^  nor 
long  after,  submitting  themselves  to  the  see 
apostolic."|: 

The  see  was  originally  fixed  at  Bodmin, 
Adelstan  being  the  first  bishop.  There  it  con- 
tinued till  the  year  981,  when  that  town  being 
sacked  and  burnt  by  the  Danes,  the  bishop  re- 
moved the  see  to  St.  Germains,  where  it  re- 
mained till  1049,  in  which  year  Livingus,  abbot 
of  Tavistock,  and  bishop  of  Crediton,  by  his  in- 
terest with  King  Canute,  prevailed  so  far  as  to 
unite  the  two  bishoprics ;  and  Leofricus,  his 
successor,  alarmed  at  the  ravages  committed 
by  the  pirates  on  the   open  towns   of  Crediton 

*  Gibson  informs  us,  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  that 
only  "three  books  are  known  to  exist  in  the  ancient  Cornish 
tongue,  one  of  which  contains  the  history  of  our  Saviour's  passion. 
It  always  has  '  Chrest'  for  'Christ,'  according  to  the  ancient  Ro- 
man way  of  writing  'Chrestus'  for  'Christus.'  By  the  characters 
and  pictures  of  this  ancient  book,  it  looks  like  the  time  of  Richard 
III.,  or  thereabouts,  and  positively  determines  against  the  Ro- 
man doctrine  of  transuhstantiationy  This  fact  would  induce  us 
to  believe  that  the  Cornish  rejected  the  main  errors  of  Popeiy 
for  a  longer  period  than  is  generally  thought. 

t  Rowland. 

t  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist.  Cent.  x.  b.  ii.  p.  4. 


20  PERRANZABULOE. 

and  St.  Germains,  removed  them  both  to  Exe- 
ter, in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 

Daring  these  dark  and  troubled  times,  little 
is  known  of  the  history  of  St.  Piran's  Church, 
beyond  the  fact  that  time  did  not  diminish  the 
reputation  of  the  saint.  On  the  contrary,  his 
shrine  became  the  resort  of  devout  worshippers 
without  number,  and  princes  and  nobles  did  not 
disdain  to  kneel  at  the  tomb  of  the  Cornish  apos- 
tle. Alfred  the  Great  had  ever  viewed  such 
spots  as  hallowed  ground,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  but  that  it  was  before  the  shrine  of  Piran 
this  pious  prince  threw  himself,  in  fervent  ado- 
ration, at  the  time  when  he  visited  Cornwall. 
*'  Long  was  he  prostrate,  offering  urgently  hum- 
ble suit  to  heaven,  that  an  unhappy  constitution 
might  not  realize  his  most  insupportable  appre- 
hensions. On  his  homeward  journey  he  thought 
himself  relieved."*  Certain  it  is,  that  in  after 
ages,  as  the  Romish  superstitions  increased,  and 
the  merit  of  pilgrimages  and  of  sin-offerings  be- 
came at  once  an  article  of  faith  and  a  source  of 
revenue  to  a  corrupt  priesthood — so  were  mul- 
tiplied to  an  extraordinary  extent  the  rich  obla- 
tions that  were  laid  on  St.  Piran's  tomb.t  And 
it  is  no  insignificant  proof  of  the  wealth  that  was 
thus  accumulated  even  as  early  as  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Confessor,  that  at  that  time  a  Dean 

*  Asser.  40. 

t  Vide  a  deed  in  the  Registry  at  Exeter,  dated  1485. 


PERRANZABULOE.  21 

and  Canons  were  established  there,  and  the 
Church  was  endowed  with  estates,  and  the  pri- 
vileges of  a  sanctuary.*  It  was  afterwards  con- 
sidered by  Henry  I.  sufficiently  valuable  to  be 
made  by  him  a  royal  gift  to  the  Dean  and  Chap- 
ter of  Exeter. 

From  that  distant  day,  what  hand  shall  lift 
the  veil  that  for  700  years  has  concealed  St.  Pi- 
ran's  Church  from  the  gaze  of  adoring  crowds  ? 
Who  shall  declare  the  mysterious  truth  that 
stamps  a  character  of  almost  incredible  fiction 
on  the  history  of  Perranzabuloe  ?  That  a  church 
so  celebrated  in  Cornish  annals  should  have  dis- 
appeared at  the  very  moment  when  a  flood  of 
corruption  and  superstition  was  rolling  into 
England  from  papal  Rome — that  the  very  as- 
pect of  the  adjoining  country  should  have  totally 
changed — that  over  the  face  of  nature  herself 
should  have  passed  the  withering  hand  of  some 
mighty  catastrophe — these  are  facts  so  evident, 
yet  so  perplexing,  that  who  shall  declare  them  ? 
Happily  for  posterity,  history  is  not  entirely  si- 
lent ;  and  seven  centuries  have  not  sufficed  to 
blot  out  the  record  of  events  which  religious  tra- 
dition ("  at  no  time,"  as  it  has  been  well  re- 
marked, "  so  easily  lost  as  that  which  is  purely 
historical,'''''^)  has  carefully  preserved  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Perranzabuloe.     While  it  points 

*  Tanner's  Not.  Monast. 

t  Chateaubriand's  Travels  to  the  Holy  Land.    Introd.  to  vol.  i. 


22  PERRANZABULOE. 

with  undoubted  certainty  the  past  distinction  of 
the  ancient  Church — its  purity — its  stability — 
its  independence — it  tells  moreover  of  aggres- 
sion— repeated,  insidious,  long-resisted  aggres- 
sion. It  speaks  of  the  ruinous  effects  of  natural 
causes — of  the  overwhelming  weight  of  the  great 
Western  Sea — advancing,  invading,  year  after 
year,  this  once  fruitful  district — and  gradually 
breaking  down  all  the  ancient  barriers  that  had 
for  many  ages  successfully  resisted  the  inroads 
of  the  restless  Atlantic.  It  tells  of  the  strenuous 
exertions  of  the  inhabitants  in  stemming  the  in- 
vading waters — of  the  gradual  submersion  of 
this  devoted  portion  of  Cornwall — it  points  to 
the  hillocks  of  sand,  as  the  collected  offscouring 
of  the  turbulent  ocean,  which  the  north-west 
wind,*  "  the  tyrant  of  this  coast,"  as  Camden 
calls  it,t  sweeping  along  with  unceasing  and  ac- 
cumulating rapidity,  has  spread  over  to  a  great 
depth  the  once  verdant  meadows  of  this  ill-fated 
parish.  Vesuvius  has  not  more  effectually  thrown 
its  sable  mantle  of  volcanic  dust  over  the  city 
and  gardens  of  Pompeii.  Like  that  unhappy 
city,  the  Church  of  St.  Piran  was  buried,  but 
not  overthrown — its  foundation  being  on  a  rock, 
and  its   walls  compactly  cemented,   it  yielded 

*  This  is  the  ancient  Caurus,  a  wind  which  Mr.  Sumner,  in 
his  Treatise  "(.e  Portu  Iccio "  has  shown  to  be  a  particular 
enemy  to  all  such  ports  as  are  exposed  to  it. 

t  "  Caurus  hujus  littoris  tyrannus." 


PERRANZABULOE.  23 

not  to  the  outward  pressure — the  fine  sand  in- 
sinuating itself  through  every  aperture,  Hke 
drifting  snow,*  rapidly  accumulated  around  its 
passive  victim — deeper  and  deeper  yet  it  thick- 
ened on  every  side,  and  rising  at  last  above  its 
highest  pinnacle,  accomplished  the  total  en- 
shrinement  of  the  sacred  edifice.  The  sandy 
submersion  was  complete  —  the  overflowing 
scourge  had  so  effectually  done  its  work,  that 
not  a  trace  remained  to  mark  the  place  of  en- 
tombment, save  a  swelling  mound  that  lifted  it- 
self unaccountably  hio^h  in  this  waste  of  sand, 
and  seemed  to  throw  an  air  of  probability  on 
those  strange  tales  of  the  neighborhood,  which, 
though  rife  on  every  Cornish  tongue,  savoured 
only  of  legendary  fiction.  Yet  the  neighbouring 
tinner,  as  he  passed  the  spot,  with  reverence 
trod  the  holy  ground — and  seemed  to  feel,  he 
knew  not  wherefore — a  religious  awe  as  he  has- 
tened by.t  The  very  children  bowed  their  un- 
covered heads,  and  with  quickened  pace,  and 
suspicious  look,  ran  past  on  the  other  side  ! 

Centuries  have  rolled  away,  and  the  sands 
have  deepened,  and  the  winds  and  the  waves 
have  further  encroached  ;  so  that  this  persecuted 
"  parish  but  too  well  brooketh  his  surname  *  in 

*  "  Occursabanttrepidanlibus  adhuc  oculis  mutata  omnia,  altoqu 
cinere  tanquam  nive  obdiicta." — Plin.  Ep.  xx. 

t  "Jam  turn  Rellgio  pavidos  terrebat  agi'estes 
Dira  loc'." — Viug.  JEn.  lib.  viii,  3 19. 


24  PERRANZABULOE. 

Sabulo,'  for  the  light  sand,  carried  up  by  the 
north  wind  from  the  sea-shore,  daily  continueth 
his  covering  and  marring  the  lands  adjoinant,  so 
as  the  distresse  of  this  deluge  drave  the  inhabi- 
tants to  remove  their  church."*  And  we  find 
from  another  ancient  historian,  that  more  than 
300  years  ago,  the  parish  was  "  almost  drowned 
with  the  sea  sande  that  the  N.  W.  winde  whirl- 
eth  and  driveth  to  the  lande  in  such  force  as  the 
inhabitants  have  been  once  already  forced  to  re- 
move their  church,  and  yet  they  are  so  annoy de, 
as  they  dayly  loose  their  lande."t 

Such  has  been  the  melancholy  condition  of 
Perranzabuloe,  nearly  from  the  time  of  the  Nor- 
man invasion — though  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  church  itself  was  not  entirely  buried 
till  the  twelfth  century — simultaneously,  be  it 
remarked,  with  that  far  deeper  and  darker  en- 
tombment of  the  more  ancient  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  the  silt  and  sand   of  Popish  corruption 

Many  have  been  the  attempts  made,  from 
time  to  time,  by  enterprising  individuals,  to 
clear  away  the  superincumbent  mass,  and  to 
restore  to  the  light  of  day  so  interesting  a  relic  of 
the  piety  of  their  forefathers.  At  times  the  work 
seemed  to  prosper  in  their  hands,  and  at  the  mo- 
ment when  success  had  almost  crowned  their  la- 
bor, their  old  enemies,  the  waves  and  the  winds, 

*  Carew's  Survey  of  Cornwall. 

t    Nordea's  Hist,  of  Cornwall,  p.  68. 


PERRANZABULOE.  25 

would  mar  the  enterprise — and  the  Church  slept 
on  in  her  sandy  bed. 

At  length  approached  the  j^ear  183-5 — the 
glorious  Tercentenary  of  the  unlocking  of  the 
Bible  from  the  tongue  in  which  it  had  been  hid- 
den from  the  people.  It  is  a  curious  and  me- 
morable coincidence,  that,  in  this  same  year, 
another  treasure,  precious  to  every  Cornish  Pro- 
testant, has  also  been  unlocked,  by  the  single 
efforts  of  a  spirited  individual — Perranzabuloe, 
the  lost,  has  been  found — the  bound  has  been 
set  free.  A  gentleman*  of  singular  enterprise 
and  perseverance,  neither  deterred  by  difficul- 
ties, nor  intimidated  by  former  failures,  reso- 
lutely put  his  hand  to  the  work ;  and,  though 
the  waves  foamed  on  the  neighbormg  shore,  and 
the  winds,  with  more  than  accustomed  fury 
"  drave  and  whirled"  around  him  the  densest 
clouds  of  suffocating  sand,  yet,  nothing  dismay- 
ed, the  work  advanced — every  obstacle  was 
overcome — till  at  last  he  had  the  unspeakable 
honor  and  happiness  of  laying  oyjen  to  admiring 
crowds  the  ancient  British  Church,  and  of  pre- 
senting it,  in  all  its  unpretending  simplicit}^  its 
rude  but  solid  workmanship,  to  the  wonder  of 
antiquarians,  and  the  gratitude  of  Cornish  men. 

*  William  MicViell,  Esq.,  of  Coinpreigney,  near  Truro,  to 
whom  the  author  is  largely  indebted  for  many  of  the  particulars 
here  related. 

4c 


26  PERRAXZABULOE. 

The  sand  that  centuries  had  been  accumulat- 
ing was  carefully  removed,  and  every  part  of 
the  sacred  building,  though  deeply  incrusted 
with  the  penetrating  dust,  was  easily  restored 
to  its  original  state  ;  so  that,  w^th  the  exception 
of  its  roof  and  doors,  it  was  found  to  be  as  per- 
fect as  when  first  erected.  The  masonry  of  the 
walls  is  remarkably'  rude,  but  as  remarkably 
solid  and  compact;  and,  without  doubt,  is  one 
of  the  earliest  specimens  of  stone  building  that 
superseded  the  mud-wattled  walls  of  the  first 
British  Churches.*  It  appears  never  to  have 
contained  more  than  one  small  window,  and 
probably  never  possessed  a  roof,  or  otherwise 
the  service  at  that  early  time  might  have  been 
performed  by  the  light  of  tapers  ;  for  we  learn, 
from  an  early  historian,  that  in  Achaia,  in  Thes- 
saly,  and  Jerusalem,  it  was  the  custom  to  go  to 
prayers  when  the  candles  were  lighted ;  and 
likewise  that  in  Cappadocia,  Cyprus,  and  Cae- 
sarea,  the  bishops  and  presbyters  did  not  ex- 
pound the  scriptures  till  after  the  candles  were 
lighted.  This  early  practice  was  afterwards 
converted  into  two  distinct  offices  in  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches  :  in  the  former  it  was  called 
?^vxiiKyov,  in  the  latter  "  lucernarium."t  It  is  pos- 
sible, therefore,  that  this  custom  of  some  of  the 
Eastern  Churches  might  have  been  introduced 

*  "  Ecclesia  Vii-gea."     Speimaii  Cone.  1.  p.  71. 
t  Socrates  Schol.  Hist.  Notes  to  lib.  v.  p.  347. 


PERRANZABULOE.  2'i^ 

at  Perranzabuloe,  and  may  thus  account  for  the 
absence  of  windows. 

The  door-way  is  in  high  preservation,  neatly 
ornamented  with  the  Egyptian  zig-zag,  or  arrow, 
having  on  the  key-stone  of  its  round-headed  arch 
a  tiger's  head  sculptured,  and  two  human  heads 
on  the  corbels  of  the  arch.  On  entering  the  in- 
terior, it  was  found  to  contain  none  of  the 
modern  accompaniments  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
place  of  worship.  Here  was  no  rood-loft  for  the 
hanging  up  of  the  host,  nor  the  vain  display  of 
fabricated  relics — no  latticed  confessional — no 
sa'crinof  bell,*  no  daubed  and  decorated  imagoes 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  of  saints,  to  sanction  the 
idolatrous  transgression  of  the  second  command- 
ment. Here  was  found  nothing  that  indicated 
the  unscriptural  adoration  of  the  wafer,  or  the 
no  less  unscriptural  masses  for  the  dead.  The 
most  diligent  search  was  made  for  beads  and 
rosaries,  pyxes  and  agnus  dei's,  censers  and  cru- 
cifixes— not  one — not  the  remnant  of  one,  could 
be  discovered.  Strange,  that  this  ancient  Church 
should  so  belie  the  Papist's  constant  appeal  to 
antiquity — to  the  faith  of  their  for  fathers — to  the 
old  religion!  Strange  that  it  should,  on  the  con- 
trary, so  closely  harmonise  with  that  novelty 
which  Cranmer  and  the  Reformers  introduced 
into  the  doctrine  and   ritual   of  the   Church   of 

**  A  bell  lunx  before  the  host. 


28  PERRANZABULOE. 

England  !  For,  in  the  absence  of  all  these  in- 
ventions and  wonder- workings  of  popery,  what 
does  this  little  Church  contain  ?  At  the  eastern 
end  in  a  plain  unornamented  chancel,  stands  a 
very  neat,  but  simple,  stone  altar  ;  and  in  the 
nave  of  the  Church  are  stone  seats,  of  the  like 
simple  construction,  attached  to  the  western, 
northern,  and  southern  walls  :  with  such  hum- 
ble accommodations  were  our  fathers  content, 
who  worshipped  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ! 
The  Church,  originally,  contained  also  a  very 
curious  stone  font,  which  fortunately  has  been 
preserved ;  having  been  removed  before  the 
building  was  irretrievably  buried  in  the  sand. 
This  font  was  transferred  to  the  second  Church, 
mentioned  by  Carew  and  Norden,  and  now 
stands  in  the  third  or  present  parish  church  at 
Lambourne.*     On  removing  the  altar  three  ske- 

*  When  the  inhabitants  were  deprived  of  their  ancient  Church, 
they  erected  another  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley,  about  half  a 
mile  further  off,  close  to  a  brook,  which,  according  to  Carew^, 
was  considered  a  protection  against  the  sand.  "  Howbeit,"  he 
observes,  "  when  he  meeteth  with  any  crossing  brooke,  the  same, 
by  a  secret  antipathy,  restraineth  and  barreth  his  farther  en- 
croachment that  way."  Unfortunately,  this  brook  was  in  proce.«;3 
of  time  dried  up  by  the  adits  made  for  draining  the  tin  mines  ; 
and  consequently  the  accustomed  protection  was  taken  away. 
Borlase,  in  a  MS.  account  of  an  excursion  made  in  1755  to  this 
spot,  speaks  of  the  second  Church  as  "being  then  in  no  little 
danger,  the  sands  being  spread  all  around  it."  It  stood  among 
the  sand  hills,  with  only  a  solitary  cottage  near  it,  half-buried  in 
the  sand,  and  the  porch  frequently  so  blocked  up,  that  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  admittance  could  be  obtained.     It  was  therefore 


PERRANZABULOE.  29 

letons*  were  discovered  ;  one  of  gigantic  dimen- 
sions, the  second  of  moderate  size,  and  the  third 
apparently  of  a  female.  No  doubt  the  former  is 
that  of  the  old  saint  Piranust  himself,  and  the 
latter  his  aged  mother  Wingela.  They  were 
carefully  replaced  in  their  narrow  cell ;  there, 
let  us  hope,  to  remain  undisturbed  till  that  day 
when  "  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead 
shall  be  raised  incorruptible !  " 

Such  are  the  particulars  attending  the  dis- 
covery and  restoration  of  Perranzabuloe — a  dis- 
covery most  interesting  to  the  lover  of  antiqua- 
rian lore — a  restoration  invaluable  to  those  who 
are  happily  within  the  pale  of  the  Established 
Church.  Legibly  can  we  read  in  its  history, 
now  that  it  is  scoured  and  cleared  of  what  so 
long  had  defaced   its   ancient    characters,    the 

determined,  about  thii'ty  years  ago,  to  abandon  also  the  second 
Church,  and  to  build  a  third,  three  miles  off,  more  in  the  centre 
of  the  parish,  at  Lambourne,  taking  for  the  purpose  the  pillai's, 
&c.,  of  the  second  Church.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
new  Church  was  consecrated  by  Dr.  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
in  1805.  It  consists  of  a  neat  though  low  tower,  two  aisles,  and 
two  transepts.  The  tower  of  the  second  Church,  according  to  a 
sketch  of  it  that  is  still  in  existence,  was  a  very  fine  one.  It  con- 
tained one  aisle,  and  a  south  transept,  with  pointed  windows, 
neatly  decorated. 

*  The  ground  around  the  Church  was,  when  the  author  visited 
it,  strewed  with  human  bones,  which,  from  time  to  time  had  been 
uncovered  by  the  winds,  and  were  bleaching  on  the  sand.  Vide 
Appendix. 

t  "In  sabulo  positum  S.  Pirano  Sacellum,  qui  sanctus  etiam 
Hiberuicus  hie  requiescit."     Camden,  p.  180. 


30  PERRANZABULOE. 

image  and  superscription  of  our  pure  and  re- 
formed Church — it  illustrates,  in  a  manner  most 
literally  and  strikingly  true,  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  the  long-lost  Church  of  England,  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation — when  it  was  not  re- 
huilt  but  restored,  jpiirged,  and  cleansed,  from  those 
monstrous  errors  and  incrustations  which  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  great  western  tyrant,  had 
spread  over  the  walls  of  our  Zion,  and  by  her 
repeated  encroachments  had  at  last  entombed  in 
the  very  dust  and  depth  of  her  own  abomina- 
tions. 

To  our  Protectant  and  Roman  Catholic 
brethren,  we  would  say,  in  the  spirit  of  con- 
gratulation to  the  one,  and  of  solemn  warning  to 
the  other — "  Behold  here  the  pattern  of  the  altar 
of  the  Lord,  which  our  fathers  made,  not  for 
hurnt-offerings  nor  for  sacrifices;  but  it  is  a  wit- 
ness between  us  and  you.  God  forbid  that  we 
should  rebel  against  the  Lord."  Joshua  xxii. 
28,  29. 


CHAPTER  IL 


"  Thou  son  of  man,  show  the  house  to  the  house  of  Israel,  that 
they  may  be  ashamed  of  their  iniquities  :  and  let  them  measure 
the  pattern. 

*'■  And  if  they  be  ashamed  of  all  that  they  have  done,  show  them 
the  form  of  the  house,  and  the  fashion  thereof,  and  the  goings 
out  thereof,  and  the  comings  in  thereof,  and  all  the  forms  there- 
of, and  all  the  ordinances  thereof,  and  all  the  forms  thereof,  and 
all  the  laws  thereof;  and  write  it  in  their  sight,  that  they  may 
keep  the  whole  form  thereof,  and  all  the  ordinances  thereof, 
and  do  them." — Ezek.  xliii.  10,  11. 

By  that  pattern,  then,  which  our  fathers 
have  left  us,  as  a  lasting  testimony  between 
Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics,  we  desire 
to  have  our  Church  measured,  and  "  showing" 
our  erring  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  "  the  form  of  our  house,"  and 
"  the  goings  out  thereof,  and  the  comings  in 
thereof,"  we  will  fearlessly  answer  that  old  and 
threadbare   question,  which,   from  the  days  of 


32  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Cardinal  Bellarmine  to  the  present  moment,  has 
ever  been  tauntingly  asked,  "  Where  was  your 
religion  before  Luther?"  by  pointing  to  Perran- 
zabuloe,  and  by  now  putting  ourselves  the  ques- 
tion, "  Where  w^as  that  Church  before  its  resto- 
ration? "  A  "latent  Church,"  it  is  true — deeply 
*'  latent"  in  the  sands  of  the  sea — but  not  less 
on  that  account  a  Christian  Church.  Therefore, 
the  stress  that  Roman  Catholics  formerly  laid  on 
the  necessity  of  a  visibihty  for  proving  the  ex- 
istence of  a  true  Church,  is  worth  nothing — the 
pattern  before  us  at  once  settles  the  question — 
it  is  better  than  a  thousand  arguments — it  de- 
monstrates, beyond  all  controversy,  that  a 
"  Church's  obscurity  is  never  repugnant  to  its 
visibility — nor  its  visibility  such  as  excludes  all 
latency."*  Therefore,  though  the  Church  of 
England  may  have  been  "  latent  "  for  a  time — 
nay,  for  400  years  buried  in  deeper  sands  than 

*  The  reader  is  particularly  requested  to  peruse  with  atten- 
tion a  highly  interesting  letter  at  tlie  end  of  this  volume,  from  the 
Earl  of  Manchester  to  his  son  Walter  Montague,  who  had  em- 
braced the  Romish  faith,  wherein  he  most  ably  confutes  this  and 
other  arguments  used  by  the  Roman  Catholics  of  his  day.  The 
author,  possessing  a  manuscript  copy  of  this  letter,  purporting  to 
have  been  communicated  by  the  said  Walter  to  the  Earl  of  Le- 
ceister,  had  believed  it  to  be  the  unpublished  original ;  but  he 
since  finds  it  was  printed  by  Dr.  Hainmond,  in  his  2nd  vol.  p. 
700.  He  has,  however,  republished  it,  from  a  persuasion  that  it 
will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader :  being  an  able  refutation, 
from  a  layman's  pen,  of  some  of  the  most  plausible  arguments  in 
favor  of  Roman  Catholicism. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  33 

Perranzabuloe — still  she  was  a  Church — still 
she  had  the  "  requisite  lineaments  of  an  unac- 
countable visibility."  But  it  seems  that  our  op- 
ponents have  all  but  yielded  the  argument  of 
visibility,  and  have  broken  fresh  ground ;  and, 
whilst  Luther  and  the  German  Reformers  are 
still  anathematized  as  the  inventors  of  a  7iew  re- 
ligion,  and  Cranmer  and  the  members  of  the 
united  Church  of  England  and  Ireland  are  brand- 
ed with  the  name  of  schismatics,  and  the  Re- 
formation itself  is  artfully  held  up  to  the  Pro- 
testant Dissenters  as  a  precedent  for  that  self- 
same sin  of  schism  with  which  they  are  charged 
by  ourselves  ;  they  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
credit  o^  antiquity ,  and  fain  would  persuade  the 
world  that  Romanism  is  our  elder  sister  by  1500 
years.*  Now  antiquity,  being  justly  considered 
"the  voice  and  practice  of  men,"  is  an  argu- 
ment of  considerable  force,  and  has  been  made, 
we  are  jjahifully  conscious,  but  a  too  successful 
claptrap  for  enmeshing  within  its  folds  the  young 
and  ardent  imaginations  of  such  as  are  of  a 
high-wrought  and  romantic  turn  of  mind.     Yes, 

*  The  Roman  Catholics  generally  assume  to  themselves /oz/r 
marks  of  being  the  true  Church: — 1.  Unity.  2.  Holiness.  3. 
Catholicity.  4.  Apostolicity.  Bellarmiue  records  thirteen  more, 
viz : — Antiquity — Duration — Amplitude — Succession  of  Bishops 
— agreement  in  doctrine  with  the  primitive  Church — Sanctity  of 
doctrine — Efficacy  of  doctrine — Holiness  of  life — Miracles — Pro- 
phecy— Confession  of  adversaries — Unhappy  end  of  enemies — 
Temporal  felicity. 

4* 


34  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAT^D 

"  the  old  religion,  the  old  religion,"  is  now  the 
constant  cr}^     "  The  temple  of  the  Lord,  the 
temple  of  the  Lord,"  was  the  senseless  shout  of 
the  apostate  Jews  of  old ;  but  the  prophet  pro- 
nounced them  to  be  "  lying  words."*     We  Pro- 
testants   re-echo    the  prophet,  and  shall  "  cry 
aloud,  and  spare  not,"  so  long  as  we  hold  in  our 
hands  the  Bible,  the  Charter  of  our  liberty.    For 
any  thing  under  the  name  of  Christianity,  which 
that  blessed  book  does  not  recognise,  we  reject 
— if  not  to  be  found  in  the  book  of  the  law  and 
the  testimony,  it  must  be   an  invention  of  later 
date  than  the  book  itself.     The  additions  accu- 
mulated by  the  Church  of  Rome  are  certainly 
very  old,  but  the  foundation  against  which  she 
has  heaped  her  sandy  system  must  he  older  still. 
That  foundation  is  the  Bible — and  the  Bible  is 
our  religion.     There  our  religion  was  before  the 
days  of  Cranmer,  of  Luther,  of  Wickliffe  !     We 
desire  not  to   prove   our  religion  older  than  the 
Bible.     And  this  is  "  a  free  challenge   betwixt 
us.     Let  the  elder  have  us  both  :  if  there  be  any 
point   of  our  religion  younger  than  patriarchs 
and  prophets,  Christ  and   his   apostles,   the  fa- 
thers and  doctors  of  the  primitive  Church,  let  it 
be  accursed    and    condemned  for  an   upstart : 
show  us  evidence  of  more  credit  and  age,  and 
carry  it."t 

*  Jerem.  vii.  4. 

t  Bishop  Hall's  Serious  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  fol.  p.  544. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  35 

But  in  every  appeal  to  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  Protestants  are  disposed  to  make,  we  are 
well  aware  how  slight  is  the  effect  likely  to  be 
produced  on  men  who  ground  their  belief  of  the 
Bible  itself  on  their  belief  in  an  infallible  Church, 
It  is  vain  to  argue  thus  with  Romanists,  who 
have  so  strangely  inverted  the  whole  edifice  of 
religion,  as  to  make  the  "  original  foundations 
of  the  Church  stand  upon  the  spires  and  pinna- 
cles of  the  Christian  superstructure."*  We 
shall  not  therefore  stop  to  prove,  what  has  been 
proved  again  and  again,  that  the  established 
Church  of  England  claims  the  love  and  venera- 
tion of  her  children  on  the  very  ground  of  their 
belief  in  the  Bible,  as  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  ; 
but  we  will  rather  endeavor  to  show,  by  the 
evidence  of  history,  that  if  antiquity  is  of  any 
value  in  determining  the  question,  (and  the  Ro- 
manists certainly  do  lay  the  greatest  stress  upon 
it,)  then  the  Church  of  England  has  nothing  to 
fear  ;  she  has  all  the  argument  in  her  favor,  and 
may  safely  challenge  a  precedence  in  these 
realms,  if  not  in  Rome  itself,  on  that  simple 
ground  alone.  And  if  the  higher  antiquity  of 
the  British  Church  be  established,  it  will  con- 
sequently follow  that  the  Reformation  did  not 
create  a  new^  but  found,  the  old  religion^  and  there- 
fore that  the  assertion  of  the  Romanists,  repeat- 

*^  Blanco  White's  "  Poor  Man's  Preservative." 


36  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

ed  with  so  much  industry,  that  the  Church  of 
England  sprimg  out  of  ])opery,  is  a  vain  imagina- 
tion, invented  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  "hunt- 
ing the  souls"  of  God's  people,  and  "causing 
them  to  err"  from  the  safe  way. 

We  deny,  therefore,  once  and  again,  that  the 
united  Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  either 
sprung  out  of  popery,  or  separated,  or  seceded,  dis- 
sented, or  divided  from  that  Church  ;  and  with 
equal  confidence  we  assert,  that  she  was  an  es- 
tahUshed  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  apostoU' 
cal  in  her  foundation,  diXid  independent  of  every  other 
Church,  500  years  and  more,  before  popery  had 
any  existence  whatever  in  this  country — that  she 
was  a  national  Cliurch,  recognized  by  the  ruling 
power  of  the  country  136  years  before  the  Church 
of  Rome  was,  and  that  the  supremacy  which  the 
Popes  of  Rome  gradually  claimed  over  her,  be- 
gan, continued,  and  ended  in  one  of  the  most 
unjust  and  presumptuous  usurpations  to  be  found 
in  the  records  of  the  world.  We  are  also  pre- 
pared to  show,  that  protestantism  is  so  far  from 
being  a  novelty,  that  our  national  Church  was  a 
protesting  Church  927  years  before  the  Diet  of 
Spire,  held  a.  d.  1529.*  These  points  we  will 
now  proceed  to  prove  ;  and  we  fearlessly  chal- 

*  At  this  EHet  the  Bame  of  "  Protestants"  was  first  given  to 
those  Reformers^  who  there  protested  agaiiist  the  errors  and  coi-- 
ruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  37 

lenge  our  opponents  to  "  show  us  evidence  of 
more  credit  or  as:e." 

At  the  time  when  Christianity  was  first  plant- 
ed in  the  world,  the  state  of  Britain  very  closely 
resembled  that  of  Cornwall,  as  described  in  the 
former  chapter  ;  the  people  were  idolaters  in  the 
grossest  sense  of  the  word,  for  they  seem  to  have 
already  engrafted  on  the  system  of  Druidism  the 
most  revolting  features  of  Roman  Paganism. 
Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  priests  never  com- 
mitted any  of  their  mysteries  to  writing,  little  is 
known  of  the  nature  of  that  religion,  as  cele- 
brated in  the  rude  circles  of  Stone  Henge  and 
Stanton  Drewe,  or  the  more  polished  temple  of 
Andate,  at  Camelodunum,  except  that  it  was  ac- 
companied with  human  sacrifices  and  the  most 
grotesque  rites. 

However  historians  may  differ  as  to  the  pre- 
cise moment  of  Christianity's  being  introduced 
into  Britain,  they  are  unanimous  in  stating  that 
the  Gospel  was  first  preached  here  in  the  very 
infancy  of  the  Church.  Eusebius  positively  as- 
serts that  the  apostles  themselves  first  introduced 
it.  Baronius,  the  Roman  annalist,  declares  on 
the  authority  of  an  ancient  MS.  in  the  Vatican, 
that  the  Gospel  was  first  propagated  here  by 
Simon  Zelotes,  the  apostle,  and  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea,  and  that  the  latter  came  over  a.  d.  35, 
and  died  here.  Callistus  makes  the  same  as- 
sertion ;  and  Dorotheus,  Bishop  of  Tyre,  in  his 


38  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

"  Synopsis  of  the  Apostles,"  records  the  land- 
ing in  Britain  of  Simon,  and  states  it  as  a  fact 
that  he  was  slain  and  buried  here  ;  and  more- 
over, that  Aristobulus,  who  is  mentioned  by 
St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  was  or- 
dained the  first  bishop  of  Britain. 

William  of  Malmsbury  agrees  with  the  Vati- 
can MS.,  in  assigning  this  honor  to  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  but  fixes  his  arrival  at  a  later  pe- 
riod ;  for  he  declares  that  he  was  sent  to  Britain 
by  St.  Philip,  a.  d.  61.  Lippomanus  asserts, 
and  Nicephorus  repeats  the  assertion,  that  St. 
Peter  preached  also  to  the  Britons  ;  "  for  he 
carried,"  says  the  latter,  "  the  same  doctrine  to 
the  Western  Ocean  and  to  the  British  Isles." 

Without,  however,  relying  implicitly  on  any 
one  of  these  authorities,  we  are  content,  on  less 
doubtful  testimony,  to  refer  the  foundation  of 
our  Church  to  rather  a  later  period,  though  cer- 
tainly to  apostolic  times  ;  and  it  is  not  the  fault 
of  the  best  historical  evidence,  if  we  do  not  suc- 
ceed in  assigning  so  distinguished  an  honor  to 
him,  who  was  emphatically  the  great  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles.  In  the  tracts  published  by  the 
late  pious  and  learned  Bishop  of  Sarum,*  it  is 
most  satisfactorily  shown,  from  credible  testi- 
mony, that  whilst  to  the  apostles  generally,  to 
St.  Paul  most  especially,  are  we  indebted  for 

*  Dr.  Burgess. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  39 

the  foundation  of  our  national  Church.  The  au- 
thorities of  the  first  six  centuries  appear  to  be 
so  conclusive,  the  wonder  is  there  can  be  any- 
longer  a  doubt  on  the  subject. 

Thus  in  the  first  century,  Clemens  Romanus, 
the  "  intimate  friend  and  fellow-laborer  of  St. 
Paul,"  declares,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, that  he  preached  the  Gospel  "  even  to  the 
utmost  bounds  of  the  west,"  an  expression,  as  it 
is  well  known  to  every  scholar,  that  always  de- 
signated, or  at  least  included  the  British  islands. 

In  the  second  century,  Irenasus  sjoeaks  of 
Christianity  as  having  been  propagated  to  the 
utmost  hounds  of  the  earth  by  the  apostles  ;  and 
specifies  the  Churches  they  planted  in  "  Spain, 
and  among  the  Celtic  nations."*  The  Celts  in- 
cluded the  Germans,  Gauls,  and  Britons.  Ter- 
tullian,  who  lived  in  the  end  of  this,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  third  century,  says  that  "  the 
most  distant  regions  had  received  through  the 
apostles  the  faith  of  Christ.  He  reigns  among 
people  whom  the  Roman  arms  have  never  yet 
subdued  :  among  the  different  tribes  of  Getulia 
and  Mauritania,  in  the  farthest  extremities  of 
Spain,  and  Gaul,  and  ^nVam."t 

In  the  fourth  century,  Eusebius  says  that 
some  of  the  apostles  "  passed  over  the  ocean  to 
the  British  isles ;  "I  and  Jerome,   in   the   same 

*  Iren.  lib.  i.  ii.  2,  3.  t  Tert.  Apol.  c.  7. 

X  Euseb.  Deraonst.  Evang.  lib.  iii.  c.  5. 


40  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

century,  declares  of  St.  Paul,  that  "  after  his 
imprisonment,  having  been  in  Spain,  he  went 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  that  he  preached  the 
Gospel  in  the  western  parts,^^*  In  "  the  western 
parts"  he  included  Britain,  as  is  evident  from  a 
passage  in  his  Epistle  to  Marcella. 

In  the  fifth  century  Theodoret  mentions  the 
Britons  amongst  the  nations  converted  by  the 
apostles,  and  says  that  St.  Paul,  after  his  im- 
prisonment, visited  Spain,  "  and  from  thence 
carried  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  other  nations." t 
He  says,  moreover,  that  St.  Paul  "  brought  sal- 
vation {u(psX£tciv)  to  the  islands  that  lie  in  the 
ocean  ;"t  and  that  these  islands  meant  the  Brit- 
ish islands,  is  evident  from  the  description  given 
of  them  by  Chrysostom.  •'  For  the  British 
islands  which  lie  beyond  the  sea,  and  are  in  the 
very  7nidst  of  the  ocean,  have  felt  the  power  of 
the  word."  II 

Our  own  historian,  Gildas  the  Wise,  who 
lived  in  this  century,  also  informs  us  that  Chris- 
tianity was  introduced  into  Britain  before  the 
defeat  of  the  British  Queen  Boadicea  by  Sueto- 
nius. Now  as  that  event  took  place  in  the  year 
61,  and  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Paul  did  not  hap- 
pen before  the  year  68,  it  is  by  no  means  impro- 
bable that  the  Gospel  was  introduced  by  that 


*  De  Script.  Eccles.         t  In  Anuot.  2  Epist.  ad  Tim.  iv.  17. 
t  Tom.  i.     In  Psalm  cxvi.  1|  Orat.  torn.  i. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  41 

apostle,  between  the  year  58,  when  he  was  re- 
leased from  his  hnprisonment  at  Rome,  and  the 
year  61,  when  Boadicea  was  defeated  by  the 
Romans. 

In  the  sixth  century,  we  have  the  further 
evidence  of  Venantius  Fortunatus,  who  in  his 
well  known  couplet  asserts  that  St.  Paul  sailed 
across  the  ocean  to  the  island  which  the  Briton 
inhabits. 

To  these  authorities  of  the  first  six  centuries 
may  be  added  the  later,  but  very  high  testimony 
of  Archbishop  Parker,*  who  states  his  persua- 
sion that  St.  Paul  preached  the  Gospel  to  the 
Britons,  in  the  interval  between  his  first  and  se- 
cond imprisonment  at  Rome :  and  with  him 
agree  also  the  opinions  of  Camden,  Usher,  Stil- 
lingfleet.  Cave,  Gibson,  Godwin,  Rapin,  and 
many  others  who  have  closely  examined  the 
question,  and  who  are  all  decided  in  their  belief 
that  St.  Pcml  was  the  founder  of  the  British  Church, 

We  further  learn,  from  Archbishop  Usher, 
who  cites  many  authorities  for  his  assertion, 
that  St.  Paul  did  not  leave  the  island  before  he 
had  appointed  the  first  bishopt  or  bishops,  and 
the  other  ministers  of  the  Church — that  Aristo- 
bulus,  whose  name  is  to  be  found  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  was  the  bishop  he  first  appoint- 
ed— and  that  the  three  orders  of  bishop,  priest, 

*  De  Vetust.  Eccl.  Brit.  t  Usher,  Brit.  Eccls.  Autiq.  p.  5. 


42  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

and  deacon,  were  arranged  by  St.  Paul  for  the 
future  government  of  the  Church. 

Nor  is  it  contrary  to  probability  that  St.  Paul 
should  have  thus  visited  the  remotest  people  in 
the  then  known  world.  His  active  mind  was 
continually  urging  him  to  fresh  conquests  among 
the  Gentiles.  For  the  space  of  thirty-five  years 
after  his  conversion,  he  seldom  tarried  long  in 
one  place — from  Jerusalem,  through  Arabia, 
Greece,  round  about  to  Illyricum  to  Rome,  he 
fully  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ — "  running,'* 
says  St.  Jerome,  "  from  ocean  to  ocean,  like  the 
sun  in  the  heavens,  of  which  it  is  said,  his  going 
forth  is  from  the  end  of  the  heaven,  and  his  cir- 
cuit unto  the  ends  of  it;"  "sooner  wanting 
ground  to  tread  on,  than  a  desire  to  propagate 
the  faith  of  Christ." 

Nicephorus*  compares  him  to  a  bird  in  the 
air,  that  in  a  few  years  flew  round  the  world ; 
Isidore,!  the  Pelusiot,  likens  him  to  a  "  winged 
husbandman,  that  flew  from  place  to  place  to 
cultivate  the  world  with  the  most  excellent  rules 
and  institutions  of  life."  "  And  while  the  other 
apostles  did,  as  it  w^ere,  choose  this  or  that  par- 
ticular province  as  the  main  sphere  of  their 
ministry,  St.  Paul  overran  the  whole  world  to 
its  utmost  bounds  and  corners,  planting  all  pla- 
ces where  he  came  with  the  divine  doctrines  of 

*  Lib.  iii.  c.  1.  t  Lib.  iii.  Epist.  176. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  43 

the  Gospel."*  Thus  the  active  disposition  of 
the  apostle  would  alone  be  sufficient  to  warrant 
the  conclusion,  that  in  his  long  and  various 
journeys,  he  would  not  fail  to  visit  so  important 
a  Roman  conquest  and  colony  as  Britain. 

But  there  is  one  other  circumstance  that 
tends  to  strengthen  this  probablity.  It  happen- 
ed, that  Bran,  the  father  of  Caractacus,  who 
was  a  captive  at  Rome,  went  with  others  of  his 
family  to  that  city  as  hostages  for  his  noble  son, 
A.  D.  51.  He  remained  there  seven  years — ^be- 
came a  convert  to  Christianity — and,  on  his  re- 
turn to  Britain,  carried  the  knowledge  of  the 
true  faith  to  his  savage  countrymen.  St.  Paul 
was  sent  to  Rome,  a.  d.  56,  and  remained  there 
a  prisoner  at  large  for  two  years.  They  were 
all  7'eleased  at  the  same  time.  Here  was  a  singu- 
lar coincidence  between  the  detention  of  the 
British  hostages,  and  the  residence  of  St.  Paul 
at  Rome,  as  a  prisoner,  who,  in  all  likelihood, 
was  the  very  person  through  whom  the  British 
captive  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  But 
among  other  reasons  for  this  supposition  is  the 
further  curious  fact,  that  at  this  same  time 
were  residinof  at  Rome  two  illustrious  British 
ladies,  Claudia  Rufina,  the  wife  of  Rufus  Pudens, 
(celebrated  by  the  poet  Martial,t  and  of  whom 
also  St.  Paul  makes  mention  in  the   latter  part 

*  Vide  Dr.  Cave's  Lives  of  the  Apostles, 
t   "  Claudia,  Rufe,  meo  nubit  peregrina  Pudenti." 


44  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

of  his  Epistle  to  Timothy,)  and  Pomponia  Grae- 
cina,  wife  of  Aulus  Plautius,  the  lieutenant  of 
Claudius  at  the  time  of  Boadicea's  defeat.  The 
latter  of  these  two  ladies,  according  to  Tacitus,* 
"  was  accused  of  embracing  the  rites  of  ^foreign 
sujyerstition,  and  ever  after  led  her  life  in  deep 
sadness,  and  continual  melancholy:"  "for forty 
years  she  made  use  of  no  habit  but  what  was 
mournful,  and  expressed  no  sentiment  but  what 
was  sorrowful."  ' '  Nothing  could  alleviate  her  af- 
fliction." These  being  the  well-known  charac- 
teristics of  a  primitive  Christian,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  "the  foreign  superstition"  of  these 
two  ladies  was  Christianity — and  as  Pomponia 
took  extraordinary  pains  for  introducing  the  Ro- 
man  literature  among  her  countrymen,  there  is 
great  reason  for  believing  that  one  so  seriously 
impressed  would  be  not  less  anxious  to  carry 
the  Scriptures  among  them,  and  perhaps  in  per- 
suading St.  Paul  to  undertake  the  journey  to  her 
country. 

Joining  then  these  several  facts  and  proba- 
bilities together,  there  is  abundant  testimony  for 
asserting  that  St.  Paul  preached  the  Gospel  in 
Britain,  or  if  not,  that  the  British  Church  was 
planted  by  some  one  of  the  apostles,  though 
whether  by  Simon  Zelotes,  or  St.  Peter,  or  St. 
Paul,  does  not  in  the  least  affect  the  question 

*   Vide  Tacit.  Anual.  lib.  xiii.  c.  32. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  45 

of  its  apostoltcal  foundation.  And  if  it  be  true 
that  St.  Paul  arranged  the  government  of  the 
British  Church,  by  the  settlement  of  the  three 
orders  of  the  priesthood,  and  by  ordaining  to 
the  Episcopate  of  Britain,  Aristobulus,  it  follows 
as  a  matter  of  well-proved  history,  that  the 
Church  of  Britain  was  fully  settled  and  estab- 
lished before  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  for  Linus, 
as  will  be  presently  shown,  being  the  first  Bishop 
of  Rome,  was  appointed  by  the  joint  authority 
of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter,  in  the  year  of  their 
martyrdom  ;  and  therefore  certainly  after  St. 
Paul's  return  from  Britain. 

But  the  Romanists  affirm  that  St.  Peter  was 
Bishop  of  Rome  for  twenty-five  years  :  this  is 
mere  assumption.  By  St.  Paul's  account,  while 
*'  the  Gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  was  commit- 
ted to  himself,"  "the  Gospel  of  the  circum- 
cison"  was  committed  to  St.  Peter.  Agreeable 
to  this  divine  arrangement,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  history  of  the  New  Testament,  we  find 
that  his  services  were  chiefly  confined  to  Judea 
and  Samaria.  Antioch  was  his  peculiar  charge — 
there  it  was  that  St.  Peter,  "  who  seemed  to  be 
a  pillar,"  though  he  had  learnt  by  the  vision  of 
the  vessel,  that  the  partition  wall  between  Jew 
and  Gentile  was  broken  down,  3^et  on  a  sudden 
most  unaccountablv  withdrew  from  all  converse 
with  the  uncircumcised — for  which  he  brought 
down  on  himself  the  severe  animadversion  of 


46  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

St.  Paul,  who  "  withstood  him  to  the  face,  be- 
cause he  was  to  be  blamed,"*  and  publicly  re- 
proved him. 

St.  Luke,  who  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, relates  several  transactions  of  St.  Peter  in 
Judea  and  Palestine  (Acts  x.  xi.  xii.)  which  hap- 
pened at  the  very  time,  when  according  to  the 
Romanists,  he  was  sitting  bishop  at  Rome,  in 
the  second  year  of  Claudius.  Now  Luke  him- 
self was  a  witness  of  the  things  done  at  Rome — 
and  yet  nowhere  connects  St.  Peter  with  any  of 
them.  It  is  therefore  clear,  that  from  the  day 
of  our  Lord's  ascension,  to  the  time  when  he  re- 
ceived the  apostle's  rebuke  at  Antioch,  a.  d.  50, 
Peter  had  not  visited  Rome  ;  for  if  he  had,  sure- 
ly St.  Luke  would  not  have  omitted  so  important 
an  event  in  the  Acts  of  an  Apostle,  having  there- 
in recorded  other  journeyings  of  the  same  apos- 
tle of  far  less  moment. 

About  the  year  53,  towards  the  end  of  Clau- 
dius's reign,  St.  Paul  is  thought  to  have  address- 
ed his  Epistle  to  the  Church  at  Rome,  wherein 
he  devotes  almost  one  whole  chapter  to  saluting 
different  persons — amongst  whom  it  might  rea- 
sonably have  been  expected  St.  Peter  would 
have  occupied  the  first  place  ;  and  even  sup- 
posing that  St.  Peter  was  at  this  time  absent 
from  Rome,  preaching  in   some   other  parts  of 

*  Epist.  to  Galat.  ii.  11. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  47 

the  west,  yet  we  are  not  sure  that  St.  Paul  was 
acquainted  with  this  fact — and  if  he  was,  it  is 
still  more  strange  that  in  so  large  an  epistle  he 
should  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  have  al- 
luded to  their  bishop.  Nay,  St.  Paul  intimates 
his  earnest  desire  to  visit  them,  that  "  he  might 
impart  unto  them  some  spiritual  gift,  to  the  end 
that  they  might  be  established  in  the  faith  ;"* 
for  which  there  surely  could  have  been  no  ne- 
cessity, if  St.  Peter  was  already  over  them  and 
with  them.  It  would  have  been  an  undue  in- 
terference with  another  man's  bishopric,  that 
St.  Paul,  the  great  advocate  of  Church  order 
and  discipline,  would  have  been  the  last  to 
countenance. 

Three  years  after  this,  St.  Paul  is  sent  a 
prisoner  to  Rome.  Does  he  go  to  sojourn  with 
his  brother  apostle,  St.  Peter  ?  No.  He  dwelt 
by  himself  in  his  own  hired  house — and  no 
sooner  was  he  arrived,  than  he  called  together 
the  chief  of  the  Jews,  to  whom  he  explained  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  ;  which  when  they  re- 
jected, he  tells  them  that  "  henceforth  the  sal- 
vation of  God  was  sent  unto  the  Gentiles,"  who 
would  hear  it,  and  to  whom  he  should  now  ad- 
dress himself.  This  certainly  implies,  that 
though  a  few  Gentiles  might  have  been  pre- 
viously brought  over  to  the  Christian  faith,  yet 

*  Rom.  i.  n. 


48  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

that  no  such  great  numbers  had  been  yet  con- 
verted, as  might  have  been  expected  under  the 
powerful  preaching  of  that  apostle,  who  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  by  one  single  sermon,  added 
to  the  church  3000  persons. 

Within  the  two  years  of  St.  Paul's  abode  at 
Rome,  he  wrote  several  Epistles,  wherein  not 
one  word  is  said  respecting  St.  Peter.  In  his 
Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  he  tells  them  that  of 
the  Jews  at  Rome  he  had  "  no  other  fellow- 
workers  unto  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  had 
been  a  comfort  unto  him,"  save  only  "  Aristar- 
chus,  Marcus,  and  Jesus,  who  was  called  Jus- 
tus ;"*  which  evidently  excludes  St.  Peter.  In 
his  second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  iv.  16,  which 
BaroniuSjthe  great  advocate  of  St.  Peter's  found- 
ing the  Roman  See,  confesses  to  have  been  writ- 
ten only  a  short  time  before  his  martyrdom,  he 
tells  him,  that  "  at  his  first  answer  (at  Rome) 
no  man  stood  with  him,  but  all  men  forsook " 
him  ;  which  would  be  incredible,  had  St.  Peter, 
the  boldest  of  all  the  apostles,  been  there.  He 
further  informs  Timothy  that  "  only  Luke  was 
with  him,"  that  Crescens  was  gone  here,  and 
Titus  there,  and  Tychicus  he  had  sent  to  Ephe- 
sus.  It  is  incredible  that  if  Peter  was  at  this 
time  at  Rome,  he  should  not  have  mentioned  it; 
and  still  more  so,  that  if  he  had  left  it,  he  should 

*   Colos.iv.  10,  11. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  49 

not  have  noticed  his  departure,  when  he  records 
the  movements  of  other  persons,    so  very  much 
inferior  to  him.     One   only   explanation  can  be 
given  for  all  his  silence — that  St.  Peter   as   yet 
had  not  been  at  Rome ;  and  therefore   the   as- 
sertion of  Baronius,  on   the  mere   authority  of 
Jerome,  of  his  having  filled  the  see  of  Rome  for 
twenty-five  years,  cannot  possibly  be  true.     If 
St.  Peter  was  ever  at  Rome  at  all,    (and   we  do 
not  deny  its  probability,)  it  must  have  been,  as 
Origen  declares,   towards  the  close  of  his  life, 
(ev  r/Af/,)   and   at  the  latter  end  of  Nero's  reign  ; 
and  no  doubt,  during  his  sojourn  in  the  imperial 
city,  he  zealously   preached  the   Gospel  to  its 
wicked  inhabitants  ;  and  on  this  account  he  is 
spoken  of  by  some  ancient  writers,  as  'partaking 
with  St.  Paul  (who  returned  to  Rome  about  the 
eighth  or  ninth  ^^ear  of  Nero's  reign)  in  the  honor 
of  founding  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  especially 
as  at  last  he  sealed  with  his  blood  his  testimony 
to  the  Gospel,  in  conjunction  with  his  fellow  apos- 
tle and  martyr,  St.  Paul,  about  the  year  68-9.* 


*  The  story  of  St.  Peter  eucounteriiig  Simon  Magus  at  Rome, 
who,  as  asserted  Ijy  Justin  Martyr,  had  a  temple  aud  statue  there, 
with  the  inscription  "  Simoui  Deo  Sancto  " — of  his  baffling  the 
sorcerer  in  the  instance  of  raising  a  young  man  to  life,  as  related 
by  Hegesippus — and  of  the  vain  and  fatal  attempt  by  the  same 
Simon,  of  flying  to  heaven,  as  gravely  related  by  Sulpicius — par- 
takes so  much  of  the  fabulous  character  of  monkish  invention,  as 
to  merit  no  serious  attention,  aud  therefore  could  not  have  been 
the  reason  that  induced  the  emperor  to  crucify  the  apostle. 

5 


50  THE  CHUilCII  OF  EXGLAXD 

But,  after  all,  granting,  for  argument's  sake, 
that  St.  Peter  \Yas  both  founder  and  Bishop  of 
Rome,  what  then  ?     How   does   the   admission 
affect    the    question   of  the    supremacy  of  the 
bishop  of  that  Church  ?     The  term  is  no  where 
even  hinted  at  in  the  New  Testament.     From  the 
time  when  Christ  made  choice  of  his   apostles, 
to  the  day  when  he  washed  their  feet,  and  bless- 
ed  the  bread  and  the  cup,  and  distributed  the 
Eucharistic  elements  without  distinction  among 
all  his  disciples — we  can  trace  neither  in  act  nor 
expression  of  the   one   only  Supreme  Spiritual 
Head,  the  slightest  allusion  to  this  assumed  su- 
premacy.    On  the  contrar}^,  our  Saviour,  in  the 
most  marked  manner,  (witness  his  answer  to  the 
mother  of  Zebedee's  children,)  reprobated  such 
a  notion   of  superiority.      It  is  moreover   dis- 
tinctly stated  in  the   New   Testament  Histor}^, 
that  all  the   churches   planted  by  the  apostles 
were  not  only  independent,   but   equal  in   rank 
and  authority.     Even  Jerusalem,  the  mother  of 
all  Churches,  w^ith   St.   Jcimes,   the  first  of  all 
bishops,   never   assumed  au}^  jurisdiction   over 
other  Churches  ;  w^hich   she   might  have  done 
with  some  show  of  reason,  considering  not  only 
her  priorit}^  of  foundation,   but  that  to  her  arbi- 
tration and   counsel  the   Churches   of  Antioch, 
S^^ria,  and  Cilicia,  did  once  appeal,  at  the  time 
they  were  so  troubled   by   the  Judaizing  Chris- 
tians. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  51 

But  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  never  set  up 
ari}^  such  pretension — nor  was  it  for  the  space  of 
500*  years,  that  any  thing  was  heard  of  this  ar- 
rogant claim  to  be  the  mother  and  mistress  of 
all  Churches,  as  now  made  an  article  of  faith  by 
the  Romish  Church.  It  is  true,  accordins:  to 
Tertullian,  that  the  title  of  ''Papa  Benedictus" 
was  in  use  in  his  time,  and  that  some  Bishop  of 
Rome  adopted  the  names  of  Pontifex  Maximus, 
and  Episcopus  Episcoporum  ;  yet  it  is  well 
known  to  the  readers  of  ecclesiastical  historv, 
that  the  former  title  was  given  to  all  bishops  in 
general — and  that  even  the  ordinary  bishops 
were  called  "  Summi  Pontifices,"  as  has  been 
abundantly  proved  by  a  very  acute  writer.t 

In  the  two  first  centuries  we  can  find  no  ves- 
tige of  an  iin'wersal  bishop  ;  Victor,  it  is  true,  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  second  centurv,  beo^an  to 
arrogate  to  himself,  according  to  Eusebius,  some 
superiority,  but  the  Churches  of  Asia,  Ephesus, 
and  France,  rebuked  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and 
dissented  from  him. 

In  the  fifth  century,  when  the  pride  and 
luxur}^  of  the  Roman  bishops  had  risen  to  an 
extraordinary  height,  Leo  I.  was  the  first  to  call 
the  seat  of  St.  Peter  ^^  unimrsal.^''  But  notwith- 
standing the  claim  was  put  forth,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  admitted  ;  for  we  find  even 

*  Tempore  Leo  I.  t  Bingham's  Antiq.  lib.  ii.  c.  2. 


52  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Augustine,  Bishop  of  Hippo,  in  this  centun^ 
when  writmg  to  Boniface,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
using  these  remarkable  words  :  "  The  imstoral 
care  is  common  to  all  who  hold  the  office  of  bishop, 
although  you  are  placed  on  a  higher  pinnacle  of 
the  watch-tower."* 

But  the  Romanists  care  little  for  the  author- 
ity of  ancient  history  when  it  happens  to  be 
against  them — and  gladly  take  refuge  in  a  soli- 
tary text  of  Scripture,  from  whence  they  direct 
the  thunders  of  the  Vatican.  We  will  meet 
them  on  their  own  ground,  and  will  try  their 
pretension  by  the  test  of  Scripture.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  text  on  wdiich  they  build  their 
claim  of  supremacy,  is  that  expression  of  our 
Saviour  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  xvi.  IS  : 
"  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  church."  We  Protestants  gladly  ac- 
cept the  divine  declaration,  but  deny  the  Romish 
inference. 

The  Saviour  had  just  asked  all  his  disciples, 
"  Whom  say  ije  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon  Peter 
answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  the  living  God.  And  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  him,  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar- 
jona  :  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
And  then  he  adds  as  follows  :  "  And  I  say  also 

*  Aug.  Cont.  Epist.  Pelag.      Vide  also  a  remarkable  passage 
from  one  of  Pope  Gregory's  Epistles,  in  the  Appendix,  No.  VII. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  53 

unto  thee,  That  thou  art  Peter  (^-w  e*  n=V^05,)  and 
upon  this  rock  (stt*  ruurri  r»5  Trri'Tpy,^  J  will  build  my 
church."  Now  to  what  does  this  rock  refer? 
Not  surely  to  Peter,  but  to  "^^" — that  confession,* 
which  St.  Peter  had  just  made  of  the  Saviour 
being  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 

On  this  verij  confession  the  Christian  Chwcli  is 
bidlt — 071  this  confession  the  first  converts  were 
baptized — on  this  confession  the  Church  of  Ephe- 
sus  was  founded.  Ye  "  are  built  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus 
Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone."t 

Thus  it  is  most  clear  that  the  Church  was 
founded  on  the  prophets  and  apostles,  not  on 
St.  Peter  alone.  St.  Peter  was  a  part  of  this 
foundation,  but  not  the  whole  and  sole  founda- 
tion. Christ,  it  must  be  remarked,  addressed 
this  question  to  all  the  apostles  :  "  Whom  say 
ye  that  I  am?"  St.  Peter,  alwa3^s  the  most 
forward  of  them,  took  upon  himself  to  answer 
in  the  name  of  all.  The  commission  of  "  the 
keys"  was  addressed  to  him,  not  exclusively, 
but  conjointly  with  his  fellow-apostles.  "I  ivill 
give  unto  you  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  hea- 
ven." Christ  does  not  say,  "  1 7iow  give  thee," 
but  "  I  ivill  give" — and  what  his  future  inten- 

*  By  the  XV.  Resolution  of  the  Council  of  Troselium,  held 
A.  D.  909,  this  interpretation  of  the  passage  is  expressly  given. — 
Vid.  Spanheim's  Eccl.  Annals,  cent.  x.  c.  5. 

t  Ephes.  ii.  20. 


54  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

tion  was  is  explained  by  what  he  afterwards 
commissioned  them  to  do — to  preach  the  doctrine 
of  Christ's  Messiahship,  (the  very  doctrine  that 
Peter  had  confessed,)  and  on  that  doctrine  to 
admit  converts  into  the  Church  by  Baptism. 
And  when  Christ  gave  this  final  commission,  to 
whom  did  he  give  it?  To  St.  Peter  alone?  No, 
to  all — to  all  equally — without  the  slightest  re- 
ference to  pre-eminence  in  the  order  or  degree 
of  any  one  of  them. 

But  in  order  to  understand  this  remarkable 
passage,  it  must  be  carefully  remarked,  that  in 
the  terms  of  this  address  of  our  Saviour  to  Pe- 
ter, He  uses  two  words,  which,  in  the  Greek, 
are  ''n/r^os,"  and  "ner^<«,"  Vetrus,  a  stone,  and 
Petra,  a  rock.  "  Thou  art  Petrus,"  (Peter,  a 
Stone,)  "  and  on  this  Petra,"  (a  Rock,)  "  I  will 
build  my  church." 

*'  If  Christ  had  meant,"  well  remarks  the 
Bishop  of  St.  David's  "  that  St.  Peter  should  be 
the  Rock  on  which  he  would  build  his  Church,  the 
same  term  might  have  been  repeated  :  thou  art 
Petrus,  and  on  this  Tetrus  I  will  build  my  Church ; 
but  the  word  is  changed  ;  our  Saviour  does  not 
say,  on  this  Petrus  I  will  build  my  church,  but 
on  this  Petra:  and,  therefore,  we  may  conclude 
that  the  first  term  was  not  meant  to  convey  the 
same  meanino;  as  the  second.  It  has  a  relative 
meaning,  no  doubt."*     And  this  distinction  in 

*  Bp.  of  St.  David's  First  Tract,  p.  14. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHUnCH.  55 

tlie  terms  used  the  Romanists  know  fall  well — 
though  they  have  not  the  ingenuousness  to  con- 
fess it,  and  yield  the  amument — but  endeavor 
to  conceal  the  plain  distinction  of  the  original 
terms,  by  frequently  translating  the  passage  as 
follows  : — "  Thou  art  (Petrus)  '«  rock^ — and  on 
this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church" — a  false 
translation,  as  must  be  evident  to  the  youngest 
schoolboy. 

That  St.  Peter,  therefore,  was  not  thcrocJc  of 
the  Church,  is  most  clear  ;  had  he  been  so,  he 
must  have  robbed  the  Saviour  of  that  honor 
which  St.  Paul  gives  him,  when  he  declares 
that  "  other  foinidation  can  no  man  lay,  than  that 
is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ,"*  who  is  emphat- 
ically pronounced  by  the  same  apostle  to  be  our 
*'  Spiritual  Rock"  {Tvevy.ariKyi'  nir^u,)     1  Cor.  x.  4. 

But  let  us  suppose  for  a  moment  that  these 
words  of  Christ  do  contain  the  meanins^  attri- 
buted  to  them  by  the  Romanists  ;  yet  who  will 
sa}''  that  that  meaning  is  not  conveyed  in  a  most 
obscure  and  doubtful  manner ;  and  that,  if  the 
Church  of  Rome  does  really  possess  these  su- 
perhuman powers  which  she  arrogates  to  her- 
self, the  Founder  of  Christianity  has  involved  an 
essential  truth  in  the  greatest  and  most  unne- 
cessary obscurity  ?  And  if  so,  then  surely  St. 
Peter,  clothed  as  he  was  with  a  vSpirit  of  infalli- 

*  1  Cor.  iii.  11. 


56  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

bility,  would,  in  his  Epistles,  or  in  his  sermons 
to  his  new  converts,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts, 
have  cleared  up  every  difficulty — and  have  ex- 
plained the  secret  sense  of  Christ's  commission 
to  him,  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  successors, 
who  were  not  named  in  the  commission.  But 
no !  not  one  word  does  he  write  or  preach  in 
reference  to  his  own  supremacy,  or  his  Church's 
infallibility — and  not  one  hint  does  he  most  un- 
kindly give  to  his  successors,  that  his  mantle  of 
infallibility  and  supremacy  should  fall  also  on 
their  shoulders. 

St.  Peter,  however,  knew  his  own  position 
in  the  Church  better  than  his  pretended  succes- 
sors have  since  done — he  assumed  no  pre-emi- 
nence— he  claimed  no  share  whatever  in  the 
original  foundation  of  the  Church  of  Rome — 
that  honor  can  belong  only  to  St.  Paul,  who 
certainly  was  the  first  apostle  that  visited  the 
Roman  Church,  as  his  own  words  seem  to  im- 
ply :  "  Yea,  so  have  I  strived  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  not  where  Christ  was  named,  lest  I 
should  build  iipoii  another  mail's  foundation,''''* 
No  mention  whatever  is  made  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  nor  in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter,  of  his 
ever  having  been  at  Rome — and  in  all  probabili- 
ty, as  has  been  already  shown,  if  he  ever  visit- 
ed that  city,  it  was  not  long  before   his  martj/r- 

**  Rom.  XV.  20. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  57 

dom — and  there  is  no  sufficient  authority  for 
supposing  that  he  was  at  any  time  bishop  of 
that  see,  or  any  further  connected  with  it  than 
as  acting  conjointly  with  St.  Paul  in  settlinir 
sundry  matters  there,  and  appointing  Linus  as 
the  first  bishop  over  it.  Irenasus,  the  disciple  of 
Polycarp,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  the  apos- 
tles, and  therefore  of  all  men  the  most  likely  to 
know,  affirms  that  such  was  the  fact.  And  bo 
it  specially  remarked,  that  if  the  bishops  of 
Rome  were  superior  to  all  other  bishops,  then  it 
follows  that  this  Linus  and  his  successors,  Ana- 
cletus  and  Clemens,  were  all  superior  to  Christ's 
beloved  apostle  St.  John  himself,  for  thcij  all 
succeeded  to  the  see  of  Rome  during  that  apostle's 
life  time!! — a  subordination  that  Romanists  them- 
selves Avill  scarcely  venture  to  maintain. 

It  might  easily  be  shown  from  many  of  the 
early  Fathers,  that  for  the  first  four  centuries  all 
Churches  enjoyed  an  equal  share  of  authority, 
and  that  no  claim  to  unlimited  supremacy  was 
ever  put  forth  by  the  bishops  of  Rome.  It  will 
be  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  call  to 
our  aid  the  authority  of  two  of  the  Fathers  only, 
taken  from  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
Thus,  TertuUian  assures  us  that  by  whatever 
name  the  bishops  of  Rome  or  elsewhere,  chose 
to  be  designated,  all  the  apostolic  Churches  of 
his  time  were  independent  of  each  other,  and 
equal  in  rank  and   authority.     He  professes,  it 

5* 


58  THE   CHURCH  OF  EXGLAND 

is  true,  a  peculiar  love   and   veneration  for  the 
Church  of  Rome  :  not,  however,  because  it  was 
founded  b}^  St.   Peter,   but  because   it  was  the 
scene  of  St.  Paul's  martyrdom   and   St.  John's 
persecution.*     From  a  passage  in  his  Tract  de 
Pudicitia,  it  appears  that  the  words  of  our  Sa- 
viour to  Peter,  "  On  this   rock   I  will  build  my 
church,"  and  "  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  ke^^s  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  were  not  supposed  at 
that  time  to  refer  exclusively  to   the   Church  of 
Rome,    but  generally   to    all    the   Churches  of 
which  St.  Peter  was  the  founder — Antioch  and 
others. 

Cyprian  also,  in  the  third  century,  asserts 
the  perfect  equality  of  all  bishops,  and  uses  the 
following  remarkable  expressions  : — "  Neither 
hath  any  one  of  our  bishops  constituted  himself 
Episcopus  Episcoporum,  nor  driven  his  colleag^ies 
to  the  necessity  of  obedience  through  servile  fear.'' ''i 

The  same  Father  also  elsew^here  says,  that 
"  the  corps  of  Bishops  formed  one  body,  united 
by  mutual  concord  and  unity,  that  if  anv  of  the 
the  body  taught  heresy,  and  began  to  lay  waste 
and  scatter  the  flock  of  Christ,  the  rest  immedi- 
ately came  to  its  rescue.  For  although  there 
were  many  pastors,  they  fed  but  one  flock,  and 
every  one  was  bound  to  take  care  of  the  sheep 

*  Vid.  Eccl.  History  of  Second  and  Third  Cent,  by  the  Bishop 
of  Bristol,  c.  iv.  p.  236. 

t  Vid.  as  rpioted  by  Bishop  of  Bristol,  c.  iv.  p.  239. 


XOT  A  NEW  CHURCH,  59 

of  Christ,    which   he   had  purchased  with  his 
blood."*     Thus  it  appears  that  a  perfect  equali- 
ty was   maintained   among   all  bishops  durino- 
the  purest  times  of  Christianity  ;  and  that  until 
pride  and  luxury  crept  into  the  Church,  and  the 
imperial  pow-er  of  Rome  began  to  decline,  and 
the    B3'zantine   empire,  exciting  jealousies  be- 
tween rival  cities  and  rival  patriarchs,  brought 
about  the  great  Western  schism,  scarcely  was  the 
notion  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome's  supremacy  even 
whispered, — -or  if  it  was,  it  was  immediately  met 
with  the  indignant  reproof  of  other  independent 
Churches.     With  all  this  mass  of  evidence  then 
against  them — with  history  and  the   Scriptures 
directly  opposed  to  them,  in  letter  and  in  spirit 
— what  shall  we  say  to   a   claim   that  rests  on 
such  hollow  foundation  ?     What  shall  we  think 
of  a  "  religion  that   depends   wholly  upon  nice 
and  poore  uncertainties,  and  unprovable  su^^po- 
sals  ?  "     "Oh,  the  lamentable  hazard  of  so  many 
millions  of  poore  soules  that  stand   upon  these 
slipperie  termes,   whereof  if  any  be   probable, 
some  are  impossible  !     Oh,  miserable  grounds  of 
Popish  faith,  whereof  the  best  can  have  but  this 
praise,  thsit  perhaps  it  may  be  true."t 

Whenever,  therefore,  my  protestant  country- 
men, you  hear  of  the  noveltij  of  your  religion, 
remember  that  it  is  just  as  new  as  the  Bible  it- 

*  Cypr.  Ep.  68. 

t  Bishop  Hall's  Dissuasive  from  Popery, 


60  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

self;  whenever  you  hear  of  the  a?itiquky  of  Po- 
pery, recollect  that  it  had  no  existence  for  seve- 
ral centuries  after  yotir  Church  was  established. 
"  Look  unto  the  rock  whence  ye  are  hewn," — 
look  unto  St.  Paul,  "not  a  whit  behind  the  very 
chiefest  of  the  Apostles,"  by  v/hom  "  rooted  and 
grounded  in  the  faith,"  "  ye  are  built  up  a 
spiritual  House,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices, 
acceptable  to  God,  by  Jesus  Christ."  And  as 
often  as  you  shall  hear  the  repeated  tale  of  St. 
Peter  and  his  primacy,  you  have  only  to  recal 
to  mind  how  utterly  unsupported  it  is  by  either 
Scripture,  history  or  reason, — and  should  you 
require  to  be  further  confirmed  in  your  reproba- 
tion of  its  untruth,  remember  the  tyrannous  doc- 
trines and  conduct  of  Popes  which  have  origi- 
nated in  this  empty  fiction, — and  compare  the 
government  of  the  pretended  successors  of  St. 
Peter  with  that  model  of  a  Christian  bishop 
which  St.  Peter  has  himself  left  us,  in  his  1 
Epistle,  V.  2,  3  :  *'  Feed  the  flock  of  God  which 
is  among  you,  taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not 
by  constraint,  but  willingly  ;  not  for  filthy  lu- 
cre, but  of  a  ready  mind ;  neither  as  hehig  lords 
over  Godi's  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to  the 
flock." 

The  following  pages  will  show  how  grievous- 
ly the  Church  of  Rome  has  departed  from  this 
apostolic  rule  ;  and  in  her  arrogant  pretension  to 
"  lord  it  over  that  part  of  God's   heritage  "  es- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  61 

tablished  in  these  realms,  how  grossly  she  has 
usurped  a  power  that  never  belonged  to  her — 
exhibiting  in  every  instance  of  encroachment 
and  usurpation  the  restlessness  of  that  troubled 
Atlantic,  "  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt." 


CHAPTER  III. 


"  If  antiquity  must  evicleuce  the  truth  of  our  religion,  we  are 
safe  and  secure  that  we  have  right  on  our  side." 

Hascard^s  Disco7irse  about  the  Charge  of  Novelty. 

Having  established  the  ancient  locality  of  the 
British  Church,  and  shown,  on  the  testimony  of 
Fathers  and  other  old  writers,  that  it  was  with 
the  greatest  probability  planted  here  by  some 
one  of  the  apostles  at  least,  if  not  by  St.  Paul 
himself,  we  will  proceed  to  prove,  that  as  the 
British  Church  was  apostolical  in  her  founda- 
tion, so  also  she  continued  for  1200  years  to  be 
independent  of  all  foreign  jurisdiction  ;  owing 
allegiance  to  no  other  Church,  but  resisting  con- 
tinually every  encroachment  on  her  rights  and 
liberty.  It  could  scarcely  be  expected  that  a 
people  so  savage  as  the  Britons,  so  devoted  to 
their  superstitions,   and   so  oppressed  by  their 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND,  ETC.  63 

fierce  invaders,  could  speedily  be  converted  to 
the  Christian  faith.  The  branch,  therefore,  of 
the  spiritual  vine  so  early  planted  in  the  soil  of 
Britain,  was,  from  the  very  nature  of  things, 
slow  in  its  growth,  and  during  the  first  century 
had  made  but  little  progress.  By  the  middle 
of  the  following  century,  however,  she  had 
"  sent  out  her  boughs  unto  the  sea,  and  her 
branches  unto  the  river  ;  "  for  it  appears  that,  by 
that  time,  a  vast  number  of  the  inhabitants,  of 
all  ranks,  had  abandoned  idolatry,  and  had  em- 
braced Christianity.  But  an  event  of  the  high- 
est moment  contributed  materially  to  forward 
the  progress  of  the  true  faith  at  that  period. 
About  the  year  167*  we  find  the  first  British 
king  not  only  professing  the  Christian  religion, 
but  becoming  "  a  nursing  father"  to  the  infant 
Church.  This  illustrious  prince  was  Lucius, 
son  of  Coilus,  who,  in  his  zeal  for  the  entire 
conversion  of  his  subjects,  sent  two  of  his  most 
learned  men  to  Rome,  Elvanus  and  Medvinus, 
for  the  purpose  of  consulting  Eleutherius,  the 
then  bishop  of  Rome,  as  to  what  measures  he 
should  adopt  for  that  purpose.  Eleutherius  re- 
ceived the  messengers  gladly,  instructed  them 
more  perfectly  in  the  Christian  faith,  consecrated 
them  bishops,  and  sent  them  back  together  with 
two  ambassadors  of  his  own,  FaQ:anus  and  Du- 

*  Bede  says  a.d.  15G.     Acrordiiig  to  Usher,  p.  20,  the  date  is 
fixed  by  some  even  as  early  as  a.d.  137. 


64  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

nianus,  to  King  Lucius,  with  a  present  of  "  betho 
the  Ould  and  Newe  Testaments,"*  and  a  letter 
to  that  monarch,  containing  these  remarkable 
words  :  "You  have  received  in  the  kingdom  of 
Britain,  by  God's  mercy,  both  the  law  and  faith 
of  Christ.  You  have  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testament.  Out  of  the  same,  through  God's 
grace,  by  the  advice  of  your  realme  take  a  law, 
and  by  the  same,  through  God's  sufferance,  rule 
you  your  kingdom  of  Britain,  for  in  that  kingdom 
you  are  God's  vicar. ''''i 

In  this  remarkable  and  valuable  document  we 
have  four  things  most  distinctly  admitted  by  a 
Bishop  of  Rome — the  existence  and  nationality 
of  the  British  Church — her  right  to  administer 
her  own  affairs — -her  independence  of  the  Ro- 
man see — -and  the  supremacy  of  the  King  of 
England  over  all  persons,  and  in  all  things,  ec- 
clesiastical as  well  as  civil,  within  all  his  do- 
minions. Now  this  is  surely  a  most  important 
admission,  and  when  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
Christianity  was  thus  in  Britain  publicly  pro- 
fessed by  the  ruling  power  146  years|  before  it 
was  so  acknowledged  at  Rome,  it  places  at  an 
immeasurable  distance  the  Pope's  presumed 
right  to  supreme  authority  over  the  Church  and 
kingdom  of  England. 

*  Sir  W.  Dethicke — vid.  Collec.  of  Curious  Disc,  vol.  ii.  p.  1G5. 

+  Prideaux's  Introduct.  to  Hist. 

X  Constantine  did  not  embrace  Christianity,  till  a.d.  313. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  65 

Lucius  was  worthy  of  his  crown.  In  the 
full  spirit  of  independence  he  commenced  his 
holy  undertaking. 

He  converted  the  three  Pagan  Arch- 
Flamins  and  twenty-eight  Flamins  into  1G8. 
so  many  archbishops  and  bishops.*  The 
archbishops  were  of  London,  York,  and  Caer- 
leon  in  Wales.  The  idol  temples  were  destroyed 
— churches  were  erected  in  several  parts  of  the 
island,  and  various  privileges  and  estates  were 
granted  for  their  support  and  honor.t 

On  the  death  of  Lucius,  a.d.  208,  Se- 
verus,  the  Roman,  succeeded  to  the  Bri-      208. 
tish  crown ;  and  there  is  abundant  proof 
that,  through  the  patronage  of  princes,  especial- 
ly of  Coin,    whose   daughter  Helena  married 
Constantius  Chlorus,  Christianity  made  so  great 

*  Mr.  Agarde,  a.d.  1G04,  quotes  from  "a  large  booke  of  St. 
Augustine's  of  Canterbuiy,"  written  about  the  year  1406,  as 
follows: — "Lucius,  primus  rex  Christianus  regni  istius,  sub  Anno 
Dom.  167,  qui  fait  annus  438  ante  adventum  Augustini.  Qui 
Lucius  divisit  rcgnum  in  tres  Archiepiscopatus,  scilicet,  London, 
Ebor,  et  Civitatem  Legionum,  id  est,  Westcestre." — Collect,  of 
Curious  Disc.  vol.  ii.  p.  160. 

Agarde  asserts  also,  that  with  this  account  agree  an  ancient 
Register  of  Elye,  an  old  Catalogue  of  the  Archbishops  of  York, 
and  an  old  Register  of  Glastonbury.     Pollidore  Virgil. 

Sir  Wm.  Dethicke  confirms  this  account  of  Lucius. 

Sir  H.  Saville  varies  a  little  in  the  date.  He  says,  in  his  Fasti, 
that  "  about  this  time  (a.d  173)  Lucius,  king  of  the  Britons,  at 
the  instance  of  Eleutherius  the  Pope,  together  with  the  whole 
nation  of  the  Britons,  received  the  Christian  Faith." 

t  Prideaux's  Introduct.  to  Hist. 


66  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

progress  in  the  island,  as  to  call  forth  the  ob- 
servation of  Origen,  that  "  the  divine  goodness 
of  our  God  and  Saviour  is  equally  diffused 
amonofst  the  Britons^  the  Africans,  and  other  na- 
tions  of  the  world."* 

The  reign  of  Diocletian  was  unfortunate- 
330.  ly  a  check  to  this  growing  prosperity  of  the 
Church  ;  for  the  persecution  that  commenc- 
ed under  him  in  Nicomedia,  on  as  vain  a  pre- 
text as  that  of  Nero,t  exceeded  all  that  had  gone 
before    it.     Its   rasfe    was   directed   afifainst  the 

o  o 

Christian  temples,  the  Bible,  and  persons  of 
every  age,  sex,  and  rank.  It  vented  its  fury 
over  every  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  ex- 
tended itself  at  last  to  Britain,  where  the  num- 
ber who  were  cruelly  put  to  torture  and  death, 
affords  no  insignificant  proof  of  the  progress 
that  Christianity  had  made  there  by  that  time. 
St.  Alban,  at  Verulam,  was  the  proto-mart3^r  of 
Britain  ;  and,  among  other  victims,  were  Julius, 
of  Caer-leon ;  Aaron,  of  Exeter;  and  Anguli- 
us,  Bishop  of  London. 

After  ten  years'  duration,  this  persecution 
ceased,  under  the  reign  of  Constantius  Chlorus, 
and  the  British  Christians  came  forth  from  the 
caves  and  woods  where  they  had  concealed 
themselves,  and  rebuilt  their  churches,  and  re- 
newed the  rites  of  Christian  worship,  unmolest' 

*  Orig.  Horn.  vi. 

t  The  burning  of  his  palace  at  Nicomedia. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  67 

ed  ;*  so  that  under  the  special  protection  of 
Constantino,  the  successor  of  Chlorus,  and  who 
was  supposed  to  have  been  born  in  Britain,  the 
Church  flourished  beyond  all  former  times,  and 
a  vast  number  of  additional  churches  were 
erected. 

The  importance  to  which  the  Church  314. 
was  arrived  at  the  early  part  of  the  fourth 
century,  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  her  bishops  were  present  at  the  council  held 
at  Aries,  in  314 ;  again,  at  the  council  of  Nice, 
in  326  ;  at  Sardica,  in  347  ;  and  at  Ariminum, 
in  359.  And  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  connected 
with  the  former  council,  which,  as  bearing  on 
the  question  of  Rome's  supremacy,  must  never 
be  lost  sight  of  by  the  Protestant  Church  of 
England,  that  the  decrees  of  that  council,  where 
the  British  Church  was  represented  by  three 
of  her  bishops,  were  sent  by  them  to  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  to  be  pi'ormdgated,  and  not,  as  the  Ro- 
manists pretend,  to  be  confirmed.  In  their  letter 
to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  they  give  him  none  of 
those  pompous  titles  which  the  Popes  have 
since  assumed,  but  simply  call  him  their  "  dear 
brother;"  they  say  they  were  all  knit  together 
in  one  common  bond  of  charity  and  unity — 
that  they  were  met  at  Aries,  in  obedience  to 
their  most  pious  emperorf — that  they  should  have 

*  Camden's  Brit. 

t   Coiistantiue  seems  to  have  formed  a  very  correct  notion  of 


68  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

been  glad  of  their  hrotlicr,  the  Bishop  of  Bomc's 
company — but  as  that  could  not  be,  they  had 
sent  him  an  abstract  of  their  canons,  that  he  mig-ht 
publish  it  throughout  all  his  diocese*  Such  were 
the  sentiments  expressed  by  this  important  coun- 
cil— sentiments  worthy  of  the  purity  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  British  Church,  and  such  as 
strike  down  all  the  arrogant  claims  of  the  Ro- 
man see  to  any  control  over  her  at  that  time. 

We  have  further  testimony  to  the  growth 
and  purity  of  the  British  Church,  furnished  us 
by  the  writings  of  some  of  the  Fathers  in  this 
century.  Thus  St.  Chrysostom  tells  us,  that 
"  the  British  isles,  which  are  beyond  this  sea 
(the  Mediterranean),  and  are  situated  in  the 
midst  of  the  opean,  felt  the  force  of  the  word, 
for  even  there  churches  are  built  and  altars 
erected  :  of  that  word,  I  sa}^  which  is  now  in 
the  hearts,  and  on  the  hps  of  all  men."t  Jerome, 
writing  to  Paulinus,  says,  "  The  court  of  heaven 

is  now  as  open  in  Britain  as  in  Jerusa- 
358.      lem."t     And  St.  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Poic- 

tiers,  being  banished  into  Phrygiaby  Con- 

the  relative  aiUliority  of  himself  and  the  bishops  in  all  matters 
connected  with  the  internal  and  external  government  of  the 
Church.  "  You,"  said  he,  in  addressing  the  bishops,  "  you  are 
bishops  in  those  matters  ti-ansacted  within  the  Cluirch  ;  but  in 
them  done  without  (the  Church),  I  am  a  bishop  constittited  by 
Gody     Ensebius'  Life  of  Const,  p.  618. 

"*  Guthrie's  Hist,  of  Engl.  vol.  i.  p.  75. 

+  Chrys.  in  Apol. 

X  Hieron.  in  Paulin. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  69 

stantius,  published  his  workde  Synodis,  wherein, 
after  sending  greeting  to  the  British  in  common 
with  all  other  Christian  bishops,  *'  he  laments 
that  his  banishment  debarred  him  from  the  satis- 
faction of  hearing  from  them,  as  he  had  been  ac- 
customed ;  but,  though  he  was  laboring  under 
that  inconvenience,  he  had  the  highest  graujica- 
tion  in  learning  that  the  British  V)ere  remarhahle 
for  their  strict  adherence  to  the  genuine  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  and  that  they  were  not  yet  infected 
with  any  oj  those  heresies  (Arian)  which  distract- 
ed the  peace  of  other  kingdoms." 

In  the  third  year  of  Theodosius  the  381. 
Great,  at  the  council  assembled  at  Con- 
stantinople, by  order  of  that  emperor,  and  not 
by  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  as  asserted  by  Baroni- 
us,  for  the  principal  purpose  of  defining  the 
limits  of  bishoprics,  it  was  ordered  that  the 
several  provincial  bishops  should  have  their 
ancient  privileges  of  independence  confirmed  to 
them,  which  confirmation  was  grounded  on  the 
sixth  canon  of  the  council  of  Nice.  In  that 
canon  it  is  enjoined,  that  "  in  the  provinces 
every  where,  none  of  the  most  religious  bishops 
shall  invade  another  province,  which  has  not 
been  for  many  years  before,  and  from  the  be- 
ginning, under  his,  or  his  predecessor's  hand." 
Now  in  appl3dng  the  acts  of  this  Trullan*  coun- 

*  "  Trullau,"  fruin  Trulkis,  a  part  of  the  palace  at  Constanti- 
nople, whore  the  council  assembled. 


70  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

cil  to  the  state  of  the  British  Church  at  this 
time,  we  are  assisted  by  a  very  ancient  Greek 
MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  purporting  to  be 
"  the  Order  of  the  Presidenc}^  of  the  most  Holy 
Patriarchs  "  on  this  occasion,  wherein  neither 
England,  Scotland,  nor  Ireland  are  reckoned  de- 
pendents on  the  Roman  patriarchate.*  So  that 
we  have  very  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  British  Church  down  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  fourth  century. 

The  history  of  the  Church  is  involved 
448.  in  some  obscurity,  from  the  death  of  Con- 
stantine  to  the  final  abandonment  of  Brit- 
ain by  the  Romans  in  448.  All  that  is  distinctly 
known  of  it  is,  that  she  was  outwardly  heavily  af- 
flicted by  the  sanguinary  incursions  of  the  Picts 
and  the  Scots,  and  inwardly  harassed  by  the  Pe- 
lagian heresy,  which  was  unfortunately  introduc- 
ed into  Britain  bv  As-ricola,  son  of  Severianus,  a 
Gallic  Bishop.  The  author  of  this  heresy  was 
Pelagius,  by  birth  a  Briton,  and  usually  called 
Morgan,  who,  during  a  residence  at  Rome,  by 
associating  with  Rufinus,  a  man  deeply  imbued 
wdth  the  principles  of  Origen,  began  to  doubt 
the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  Pelagianism 
soon  spread  itself  through  the  island.  The 
leading  divines,  yet  sound  in  the  faith,  for 
some  time  resisted  the  pernicious  doctrine,  but 

*  ViJ.  Dr.  Beveridge's  notes  on  the  sixth  Can.  Council.  Trul- 
lan,  p.  135. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  71 

at  length,  despairing  of  their  own  efforts,  they 
addressed  themselves  to  the  Bishops  of  Britan}^ 
The  request  was  answered  in  the  persons  of 
Germanus,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  Lupus, 
Bishop  of  Troyes,  who,  by  public  preaching, 
and  the  arguments  they  advanced  before  a 
council  held  at  Verulam,  succeeded  in  suppress- 
ing the  heresy  for  a  time  ;  but  it  again  broke 
out  with  greater  violence  after  their  departure, 
and  Germanus  was  once  more  induced,  in  as- 
sociation with  Severus,  Bishop  of  Treves,  to 
revisit  Britain,  when  by  the  means  that  had 
been  before  so  successful,  they  extirpated  Pe- 
lagianism,  and  took  effectual  steps  for  securing 
their  triumph,  by  causing  schools  to  be  erected ; 
one  at  LlandafF,  under  Dubricius  ;  and  another 
at  Lantuit,  in  Glamorganshire,  under  Illutus, 
where  most  of  the  Enolish  nobilitv  were  after- 
wards  educated.  The  celebrated  monastery  at 
Bangor  was  also  at  the  same  time  founded, 
through  the  exertions  of  Germanus.  But  these 
measures  were  only  palliatives  ;  for  whilst  the 
Church  was  rescued  from  the  plague  of  heresy, 
she  had  more  formidable  enemies  to  contend 
with.  No  longer  protected  by  the  powerful 
countenance  of  the  Roman  emperors,  she  was 
grievously  oppressed  by  the  frequent  incursions 
of  those  predatory  tribes  who  occupied  the 
northern  frontier  of  Britain.  In  this  extremity, 
the  South   Britons   sent  a  letter  to  Rome,  in- 


72  THE  CHURCH  OF   ENGLAND 

scribed,  "  The  Groans  of  the  Britons."  But 
the  Romans  had  enough  on  their  hands  at  this 
juncture,  in  defending  themselves  against  Attila 
and  his  barbarian  followers  ;  their  petition  there- 
fore was  unnoticed. 

In  this  extremity  of  desertion  on  one  side, 
and  suffering  on  the  other,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Vortigern,  prince  of  Damnoniun:,  the  Britons, 
in  an  evil  hour,  sent  deputies  to  the  Saxons, 
w^ho  were,  of  all  the  German  tribes,  the  most 
warlike,  as  well  as  the  most  savage,  requesting 

their    assistance.     The    Saxons    readily 
499.      acceded  to  their  request;  and  under  their 

leaders  Hengist  and  Horsa,  landed  in 
Britain,  and  soon  expelled  the  Scots  and  Picts. 
This  first  success  speedily  brought  over  more  of 
their  adventurous  countrymen,  who  became  so 
charmed  with  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the 
mildness  of  the  climate,  that  they  soon  assumed 
the  attitude  of  conquerors — -joined  the  Picts  and 
Scots  against  the  poor  Britons,  and,  by  force  of 
arms,  maintained  their  possession  of  the  country. 
Britain,  from  east  to  west,  became  involved  in 
rapine  and  slaughter — her  cruel  masters  turned 
their  ruthless  hands  against  everything  and  per- 
son that  had  a  religious  character — destroyed 
every  church  they  could  reach,  and  slew  the 
Christians  at  the  very  altars — the  bishops  and 
clergy  were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  and 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  73 

either  perished  miserably,   or   sought  refuge  in 
expatriation. 

The  plunder  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  these 
Saxon  spoilers,  attracted  the  cupidity  of  other 
piratical  tribes.  The  Jutae,  from  the  Cimbric 
Chersonese,  and  the  Angles,  from  Sleswick, 
rushed  to  the  quarry,  and  with  murderous  ra- 
pidit}",  carried  fire  and  sword  to  every  quarter 
of  the  island.  The  Britons  long  maintained  the 
unequal  strife  ;  but  after  a  struggle  of  150  years, 
were  compelled  to  receive  the  yoke  of  their 
heartless  and  pagan  conquerors.  The  whole  of 
South  Britain  became  established  under  the 
swa}'  of  seven  Saxon  kings,  and  was  known  by 
the  na.me  of  the  Heiptarchy. 

During  these  successive  convulsions  in  Brit- 
ain, it  necessarily  followed  that  Christianity 
found  but  little  encouragement  in  the  midst  of 
such  uncongenial  elements.  The  Saxons  them- 
selves  were  pagans,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  the 
British  clergy^,  during  the  desperate  struggle, 
would  dare  to  undertake  the  conversion  of  their 
masters.  Indeed,  according  to  Bede  and  Gil- 
das,  and  other  chroniclers  of  these  sad  times,  it 
was  not  likely  that  the  Saxons,  on  their  part, 
would  be  more  disposed  to  accept  the  Gospel 
from  the  hands  of  enemies  they  so  much  des- 
pised. 

This  deplorable  indisposition  on  both  sides 
to  approximate  might  have  long  continued,  had 


74  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

not  the  fortunate  marriage  of  Etbelbert, 
570     king  of  Kent,  with  Bertha,  daughter  of 

Cherebert,  or  Caribert,  king  of  Paris, 
paved  the  way  for  that  monarch's  conversion  to 
the  Christian  faith.  This  Etbelbert,  ''  under 
the  designation  of  Bretwalda,  enjoyed  an  admit- 
ted precedence  over  all  the  Anglo-Saxon  poten- 
tates,"* and  extended  his  kingdom  to  the  Hum- 
ber.  Caribert  would  not  consent  to  his  dau2:h- 
ter's  marriage  until  the  free  exercise  of  her  re- 
ligion was  guaranteed  by  the  Saxon,  and  the 
attendance  of  a  Christian  bishop,  Luidhard, 
permitted.  On  these  conditions  Bertha  came  to 
Canterbury,  where  a  ruined  British  churcht 
was  repaired,  and  devoted  to  her  use.  Here  a 
Christian  congregation,  in  the  very  head-quar- 
ters of  Saxon  dominion,  assembled ;  and  here 
the  young  queen  acquired  such  an  ascendancy 
over  Etbelbert,  that  he  was  easily  reconciled  to 
the  efforts  she  made  to  draw  over  her  adopted 
countrymen  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  was 
equally  disposed  to  receive  favorably  a  mission 
from  Gregory  the  Great,  then  bishop  of  Rome, 
who  had  for  some  time  cherished  the  hope  of 
converting  the  Anglo-Saxons  to  Christianity. 
This  prelate,  before  he  was  advanced  to  the 
pontificate,  had  by  chance  observed  in  the  Ro- 
man slave  market  some  fair-complexioned  light- 

*  Soames's  Angl.  Sax.  Cli,  p.  23.  +  St.  Martin. 


NOT  A  NEW   CHURCH.  76 

haired  youths.  Their  fresh  and  beautiful  coun- 
tenances instantly  attracted  his  notice.  On  in- 
quiring whence  they  came,  and  who  they  were, 
he  was  informed  they  were  Angles  from  Britain. 
"Ah!"  replied  Gregor}^,  "they  rather  deserve 
the  name  of  Angels."  "  From  what  province 
do  they  come?"  He  was  told  from  Deira,  a 
district  of  Northumbria.  "Deira,"  he  answer- 
ed, "  that  is  well — they  are  called  to  the  mercy 
of  God  from  his  wrath  (de  ira.")  "  Bat  what  is 
the  name  of  the   king  of  that  province?"     He 

was  informed  it  was   Alia,  or  MUa. "  AUe- 

liijah  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  AUelujah  must  be  sung 
in  their  country." 

Influenced  by  these  coincidences,  Gregory 
resolved  on  undertaking  a  mission  into  Britain, 
and  would  at  once  have  proceeded  on  it,  had  he 
not  been  compelled  to  abandon  the  holy  enter- 
prise, from  the  unwillingness  of  the  Romans  to 
part  with  him.  On  his  being  raised  to  the  pon- 
tificate, the  noble  resolution  of  converting  the 
Saxons  did  not  abandon  him ;  for  immediately 
after  his  elevation,  he  ordered  a  Gallic  priest, 
by  name  Candidus,  to  buy  some  British  youths, 
to  be  educated  as  missionaries  for  their  native 
land.* 

Gregory's  ardent  mind,  however,  could  but 
ill  brook  the  delay  of  educating  missionaries  for 

"  Greg.  Epist.  v.  10. 


76  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

SO  pressing  and  darling  an  object.  He  resolved, 
therefore,  on  speedier  measures — he  looked 
about  him  for  a  man  of  zeal,  talent,  and  resolu- 
tion. Such  an  one  he  found,  alread}'  formed  to 
his  hand,  in  iVugustine,  the  prior  of  St.  Martin. 
This  enterprisinof  ecclesiastic,  bavins:  en2:aQ:ed 
in  the  same  service  a  body  of  forty  monks,  di- 
rected his  course  towards  Britain  ;  but,  on  his 
way  through  Gaul,  his  heart  failed  him,  and  he 
vv'ould  have  relinquished  the  undertaking,  had 
not  the  rebid^e  of  Gregory  compelled  him  to 
proceed. 

The  missionaries  landed  at  Retesburgh, 
597.  inth  is-eof  Thanet,  and  advanced  tome  et 
the  king  of  Kent,  in  formal  procession  ; 
one  monk  carried  on  high  a  silver  cross,  another 
a  picture  of  our  Saviour,  while  the  remainder 
chanted  litanies  as  they  came  into  the  ro3'al 
presence.  Augustine  explained  the  object  of 
their  mission  ;  a.nd  however  Ethelbert  might 
have  been  favorabh'^  disposed  towards  Chris- 
tianity, he  dared  not  openl}'-  declare  his  senti- 
ments ;  he  therefore  simply  granted  him  per- 
mission to  preach  his  doctrines  throughout  his 
kingdom.  This  permission  was  instantl}^  acted 
on,  and  with  such  extraordinary  success  were 
their  first  labors  crowned,  that  Augustine  and 
his  associates  are  reported  to  have  baptized  on 
one  Christmas-da}^  in  the  river  Swale,  which 
he  first  consecrated,  upwards   of   10,000  Sax- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  77 

ons,* besides  women  and  children.  The  king  him- 
self soon  after  declared  himself  a  convert,  and 
was  baptized  ;  and  one  of  the  pagan  temples 
was  converted  into  a  church,  and  dedicated  to 
St.  Pancras.t 

We  have  here  chiefly  been  considering  the 
successful  mission  of  the  Roman  emissaries,  and 
the  happy  combination  of  events  that  led  to  their 
favorable  reception  by  the  Saxons.  It  must  not, 
however,  be  supposed,  that  while  Augustine  and 
his  colleagues  were  occupied  in  evangelizing  the 
Saxon  portion  of  the  community,  the  British 
Christians  took  no  part  in  this  Christian  work. 
It  is  true  that  their  Church  was  heavily  oppress- 
ed— yet  was  it  not  destroyed — the  flame  of  pure 
Christianity  burnt  in  many  an  obscure  corner  of 
the  island,  and  many  a  British  preacher  emerged 
from  the  deep  glens  and  woods  of  the  island, 
and,  like  St.  John  in  the  wilderness,  with  no 
better  fare  than  locusts  and  wild  honey,  pro- 
claimed the  joyful  tidings  of  the  Gospel,  in  that 
dark  day  of  misery  and  oppression.  Among  the 
most  celebrated  of  these  bold  confessors  were 
Kentigern,  St.  Asaph,  and  St.  Columba,  men 
who  hazarded  their  lives  in  those  perilous  times ; 
and  throuG^h  their  means  vast  numbers  of  the 

*  Bede  relates  this  of  Puuliuus. 

+  It  is  not  a  little  extraordinary  that  the  last  church  in  Ku^land 
tliat  refused  to  throw  aside  the  Romish  usages  was  St.  i'aiicras, 
in  London. 


78  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Saxons  abandoned  their  idolatrous  worship,  and 
embraced  Christianity.  So  that  the  gross  delu- 
sion which  the  Romanists  would  palm  upon  the 
world,  that  to  Auofustine  and  his  associates  be- 
longs  the  entire  glory  of  Britain's  conversion,  is 
not  only  absolutely  false  with  regard  to  the 
Britons,  but  not  true  even  with  respect  to  the 
Saxons.  This  is  a  point  that  deserves  well  to 
be  borne  in  mind,  because  it  not  only  shows 
that  the  British  Church  existed,  as  a  distinct 
and  independent  Church,  at  the  time  of  Augus- 
tine's arrival,  but  that  she  possessed  sufficient 
strength  and  vitality  to  extend  the  curtains  of 
her  tent,  even  in  the  hour  of  her  heaviest  op- 
pression ;  and  with  all  the  influence  that  Augus- 
tine could  command,  by  wealth,  by  power,  and 
by  intrigue,  to  establish  a  paramount  authority 
over  her,  she  yet  maintained  a  dignified  position, 
and  from  the  mountains  of  Wales  and  Cornwall, 
the  fens  of  Somersetshire,  and  the  forests  of 
Northumbria,  "  set  up  her  banners  for  tokens" 
of  uncompromising  independence. 

The  use  that  was  made  by  Augustine  of  his 
intrusion  into  the  territory  of  the  British  Church, 
commences  a  new  and  important  era  in  her  his- 
tory, and  will  therefore  form  the  subject  of  ano- 
ther chapter. 

In  concluding  the  present,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  observe,  that  thus  far  the  proof  is  complete, 
that  the  British  is  an  ancient  apostolical  Church, 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  79 

independent  of  all  foreign  jurisdiction,  and  to- 
tally distinct  from  that  which  Augustine  planted 
among  the   Saxons.     By  a  reference  to  dates 
also,  it  will  appear  that  she  was  planted  here  at 
least  400  vears  before  the  Saxon  invasion,  and 
nearly  550  years  before  the  arrival  of  St.  Au- 
gustine,— that  she  was   publicly   recognised  by 
the  government  of  the  country  146  years  before 
the  Church  at  Rome   was — and  that   from  the 
first  moment  of  her  existence  here,  to  the  days 
of   Pope    Gregory    the    Great,    the    bishops  of 
Rome  neither  claimed  nor  received  her  submis- 
sion.    Popery,   as   a  tyrannical   power,  urging 
its    pretensions    to     supremacy   or    infallibility, 
was  as  3^et  unknown,  and  continued  so  till  the 
pontificate  of  Boniface  ;  so  that  for  the  first  six 
hundred  j^ears  of  the  Christian  era,  in  vain  shall 
we  look  for  any  resemblance  to  that  Church, 
which,   in  after  ages,  filled  the  earth  with  her 
sorceries,  and  "  lorded  it  over  Christ's  heritage  " 
as  "  universal  bishop,"  and  "  as  God," 

Surely,  *'  to  know  that  the  Church  of  Britain 
was  coeval  with  the  age  of  the  Apostles,  is  to 
build  our  faith  on  grounds  most  solid  and  inter- 
esting. But  to  extend  that  proof  to  the  indi- 
vidual labors  of  one  of  the  Apostles,  and  to 
find  ourselves  indebted  for  the  first  knowledge 
of  the  greatest  blessing  ever  conferred  on  man- 
kind, to  the  personal  zeal  of  the  great  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in   this  search   after  truth 


80  THE  CHURCH  OF  EN(3^LAND 

to  find  fi-irther,  that  the  father  of  a  British  prince 
was  instrumental  in  the  first  introduction  of  the 
Gospel  into  Britain — that  it  was  publicly  pro- 
fessed and  protected  by  a  British  king  before 
the  end  of  the  second  century — that  a  British 
king  was  the  first  Christian  prince — that  Chris- 
tianity was  established  throughout  the  Roman 
empire  by  anative  of  Britain  ; " — "these  consid- 
erations, while  they  greatly  increase  our  interest 
in  the  belief  and  service  of  Christianity,  and 
augment  our  responsibility,  may  justly  lead  us, 
as  Protestants,  to  adopt  the  language  of  Moses, 
*  What  nation  is  there  so  great,  which  hath  God 
so  nigh  unto  them,  as  the  Lord  our  God  is  in 
all  things  that  we  call  upon  him  for ;  and  what 
nation  is  there  so  great,  that  hath  statutes  and 
judgments  so  righteous,' — a  religion  so  pure,  a 
Church  so  apostolical,  a  polity  so  wise  and 
equitable,  and  blessings  so  ample,  so  various, 
as  God  hath  bestowed  upon  this  our  favored 
country'?"* 

Let  us  see  how  far   our  forefathers  valued 
and  maintained  these  exalted  privileges. 

*  Bishop  of  St.  David's  Tracts,  p.  144. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


''  Oh  that  my  grief  were  thoroughly  weighed,  and  my  calamity 
laid  in  the  balances  together  !  for  now  it  would  be  heavier  than 
the  sand  of  the  sea." — Job  vi.  2,  3. 

We  are  now  approaching  a  most  important 
epoch  in  the  histor^^of  notonly  the  British  Church 
in  particular,  but  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
general,  when  the  Roman  pontiffs  began  to  un- 
furl the  banner  of  universal  dominion,  and  to  set 
at  nought  even  the  power  and  rights  of  princes. 

The  mission  of  St.  Augustine,  by  whatever 
motive  undertaken,  was  the  point  of  the  Papal 
wedge,  which,  first  insinuated  into  the  body  ec- 
clesiastical of  England,  by  Gregory  the  Great, 
was  by  his  successors  driven  deeper  and  deep- 
er, until  at  length,  by  the  means  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  it  so  effect- 
ually destroyed  the  independence  of  the  British 

6* 


82  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Church,  as  to  lay  her  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  her 
merciless  task-master. 

But  before  we  proceed  to  the  detail  of  this 
aggression,  a  brief  account  of  the  gradual  growth 
of  the  usurping  power  of  Rome  will  be  neces- 
sary for  the  due  development  of  its  slow  but 
baneful  effects  on  the  British  Church. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that,  as  early  as 
the  second  century,  the  title  of  "  episcopus  epis- 
coporum,"  "  bishop  of  bishops,"  was  assumed 
by  the  Roman  pontiff,  but  as  no  superior  power 
accompanied  the  title,  it  was  looked  at  as  a 
harmless  piece  of  vanity.  In  the  following  cen- 
tury, as  the  imperial  city  increased  in  luxury 
and  splendor,  a  certain  degree  of  pre-eminence 
was  claimed  by,  and  yielded  to,  the  bishop  of 
the  first  city  in  the  world  ;  yet  this  pre-eminence 
was  denied  by  many,  even  by  Cyprian,  bishop 
of  Carthage,  as  was  unequivocally  shown  by 
his  controversy  with  Stephen,  respecting  the 
baptism  of  heretics.* 

But  this  pre-eminence,  even  by  such  as  yield- 
ed it,  was  only  allowed  to  be  that  of  order  and 
association.,  and  not  oi power  and  authority  ;  which 
was  precisel}^  the  kind  of  superiority  that  Cy- 
prian himself  enjoyed  over  the  African  Churches. 

But  this  state  of  doubtful  acquiescence  did 
not  long  continue  ;  for  before  the   conclusion  of 

*  Cyp.  Ep.  73. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  83 

this  century,  the  Roman  Church  began  to  show 
signs  of  serious  change.     Bishops  now  lorded  it 
over  the  presbyters,  and  presbyters  in  their  turn 
over  the  deacons  ;  and  the  pontiffs  assumed  a 
degree  of  power  and   splendor  that  rather  be- 
longed to  princes  than  priests.     Constantino  the 
Great,  by  birth  a  Briton,  and  the  first  Christian 
emperor,  checked  for  a  time  this  growing  inno- 
vation, by  giving  a  new  form  to  Church  govern- 
ment.     He    constituted    himself  the    supreme 
head  of  the   Church,   in   all  matters   connected 
with   its  external  government.*     This  assump- 
tion was  readily  acquiesced  in  by  all  the  bishops, 
as  the  price   of  the   emperor's   protection.     In 
process  of  time  he  remodelled  in  other  respects 
the    ecclesiastical    form    of   government  ; — he 
made   the    bishop    of  Constantinople   equal  in 
power  to   the  three   bishops  of  Rome,  Antioch, 
and    Alexandria.       These    four   prelates    were 
called  Patriarchs,  and  to  them  the  second  in 
rank  were   the   Exarchs,  or  inspectors  of  pro- 
vinces.    The  Metropolitans  followed  the  next  in 
order,  holding  the  government  of  one  province ; 
under  whom  were  the  Archbishops,   who  pre- 
sided over  certain  districts.     The  Bishops  were 
the  lowest  of  this  order,  and  included  the  Chor- 
episcopi,  or  bishops  of  country  churches. 

*  Euseb.  Life  of  Const,  p.  569. 


84  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

This  equality  in  rank  and  power  was  intole- 
rable to  the  proud  prelate  of  Rome;  dissatisfac- 
tion soon  ripened  into  aversion,  and,  in  spite  of 
imperial  edicts,  and  S3^nodai  remonstrances,  he 
broke  through  all  restraint,  and  resumed  a  great- 
er degree  of  pre-eminence  than  ever  over  all  the 
other  patriarchs,  a  position  he  found  no  difficulty 
in  maintaining,  by  reason  of  his  greater  wealth, 
and  more  favorable  situation. 

Thus  were  already  laid  those  steps  by  which 
the  future  bishoj)s  of  Rome  mounted  to  the  sum- 
mit of  ecclesiastical  despotism.  The  increasing 
pretensions  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  were,  how- 
ever, in  some  degree  checked  by  the  rival  am- 
bition of  the  Byzantine  patriarch,  which  termi- 
nated at  last  in  the  total  separation  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches. 

These  divisions  amono,-  the  heads  of  the 
Church  were  veiy  detrimental  to  religion,  for 
they  were  accompanied  w^th  the  increase  of  the 
grossest  superstition  among  the  people  ;  so  that, 
during  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  in  all  coun- 
tries connected  w^ith  Rome,  the  most  lamentable 
corruptions  prevailed  in  the  Church.  The  pa- 
gan rites  became  closely  interwoven  with  the 
Christian — pious  frauds  were  every  where  prac- 
tised on  the  deluded  multitude — the  worship  of 
relics,  adoration  of  saints,  prayers  for  the  dead, 
pilgrimages,   and  other  like  extravagances,  be- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  85 

gan  to  prevail — and  the  Church  assumed  a 
pompous  and  splendid  ritual,  differing  in  no  re- 
spect from  that  of  the  heathen  temples.* 

In  the  fifth  century  there  was  no  abatement 
of  usurpation  or  pride  on  the  part  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs ;  and  in  the  following  it  was  no  matter 
of  surprise  to  see  so  ambitious  a  man  as  Gre- 
gory, under  the  mask  of  the  greatest  humilit^^, 
maintaining  a  constant  struggle  for  universal  do- 
minion. He  seemed  to  be  peculiarly  jealous  of 
the  rival  power  of  the,  patriarch  of  Constantino- 
ple, and  it  is  not  a  little  curious  to  observe  his 
singular  bearing  towards  him.  One  instance 
shall  suffice,  and  let  Protestants  bear  it  in  re- 
membrance. The  patriarchate  of  Constantino- 
ple was  filled  b}^  John,  surnamed  the  "Faster," 
a  prelate  held  in  high  veneration  on  account  of 
his  austerities.  He  had  not,  however,  it  ap- 
pears, yet  starved  himself  into  a  meek  and  hum- 
ble spirit,  for  he  assumed,  under  the  sanction  of 
the  emperor,  the  lofty  title  of  "(Ecumenical 
Bishop."  Gregory  w^as  highly  offended  at  his 
presumption,  and  immediately  styled  himself 
"  Servus  Servorum  Dei" — "The  Servant  of 
God's  Servants."  He  reminded  also  the  empe- 
ror Maurice  of  St.  Peter's  high  prerogatives, 
"  and  yet,"  he  added,  "  that  pillar  of  our  faith  is 
never  called  '  (Ecumenical  Apostle.' "     The  Fast- 

*  Vid.  Spaiiheim's  Eccl.  Annals,  p.  350. 


86  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

er's  assumption  accordingly  he  represents  as  an 
insult  to  the  priesthood,  and  a  scandal  to  the 
Church.* 

Gregory's  pretended  humility,  however,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  limited  to  the  atmosphere  of 
the  East.  In  the  West  it  had  entirely  evapo- 
rated ;  for  we  find  him  but  in  one  case  repudi- 
ating the  title  by  which  he  was  now  acknowledg- 
ed by  some  churches,  of  Universal  Head  of  the 
Western  Church. 

His  views  with  regard  to  Britain  were  cer- 
tainly of  an  ambitious  character.  The  success 
that  had  already  attended  Augustine's  mission, 
excited  in  him  an  ardent  hope  of  bringing  the 
British  Church  under  his  jurisdiction.  The 
cunning  monk  was  well  aware  of  his  master's 
love  of  the  marvellous  ;  he  therefore  indulged 
him  with  a  full  account  of  the  miracles  he  had 
wrought.  Gregory  implicitly  believed  his  mar- 
vellous narrations,  and,  in  return  for  his  exer- 
tions, sent  him  a  load  of  relics,  vestments,  and  a 
few  volumes  of  books.  He  shortly  afterwards 
transmitted  to  him  the  pall,t  and  authorised  him 
to  select  an  archbishop  for  the  see  of  York,  and 

*  Soames's  Angl.  Sax.  Ch.  p.  20. 

t  The  pall,  or  pallium,  was  a  part  of  the  archbishop's  dress, 
made  of  the  fleece  of  white  lambs,  consecrated  to,  and  offered  at 
the  shrine  of  St.  Agnes,  by  the  Pope.  Before  receiving  it,  the 
archbishop  could  not  call  a  council,  bless  the  chrism,  ordain  a 
priest,  Sec.  On  its  receipt  he  was  obliged  to  swear  fealty  to  the 
Roman  pontiff. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  87 

to  have  jurisdiction  over  him  and  all  other  bish- 
ops. Augustine  speedily  responded  to  the 
wishes  of  Gregory,  and  began  seriously  to  apply 
himself  to  the  reduction  of  the  whole  British 
Church  to  the  power  of  Rome.  But  he  had 
strangely  miscalculated  the  pliancy  of  the  Brit- 
ish character,  and  was  totally  ignorant  of  the 
state  of  religion  among  that  people.  Our  Church 
historian,  Fuller,  assures  us  that  Augustine  on 
his  arrival,  "  found  here  a  plain  religion  (simpli- 
city is  the  badge  of  antiquity)  practised  by  the 
Britons  ;  living,  some  of  them,  in  the  contempt, 
and  many  more  in  the  ignorance,  of  worldly 
vanities.  He  brought  in  a  religion,  spun  with  a 
coarser  thread,  though  guarded  with  a  finer  trim- 
ming ;  made  luscious  to  the  senses  with  pleasing 
ceremonies,  so  that  many  who  could  not  judge 
of  the  goodness  were  courted  with  thegaudiness 
thereof."  And  again,  the  same  author  testifies, 
that  the  poor  "  Christian  bishops,  living  peacea- 
bly at  home,  there  enjoyed  God,  the  Gospell, 
and  their  mountains  ;  little  skilful  in,  and  lesse 
caring  for,  the  ceremonies  a  la  mode,  brought 
over  by  Augustine ;  and,  indeed,  their  poverty 
could  not  go  to  the  cost  of  Augustine's  silver 
crosse,  which  made  them  worship  the  God  of 
their  fathers,  after  their  own  homely  but  hearty 
fashion  ;  not  willing  to  disturb  Augustine  and 
his  followers  in  their  new  rites,  but  that  he   had 


88  THE  CHURCH  OF   ENGLAND 

a  mind  to  disquiet  them  in  their  old  service^  as  in 
the  sequele  of  the  history  will  appear."* 

What  a  beautiful  picture  has  the  historian 
here  drawn  of  the  simple,  unpretending,  and  to- 
lerant relisfion  of  our  ancient  Church  !  How 
finely  contrasted  with  the  ostentatious  and  heart- 
less pageantry  of  those  "  new  rites"  which  are 
now  to  be  forced  upon  her  ! 

It  was  Augustine's  polic}^  to  undermine  this 
simplicity  of  religious  worship  among  the   Brit- 
ons, and  to  work  upon  the  imaginations  of  the 
wonder-loving    Saxons,   by  the  means   of  that 
gaudy  ritual,  and  those  enticing  doctrines,  which 
he  had  imported   from   Italy.     The   w^orship  of 
images,  the  flames  of  purgatory,  the  efficacy  of 
good  works  towards  the  attainment  of  salvation, 
the  virtue  of  relics,  were  all  his   ready   instru- 
ments.    The  "institution  of  the   canon  of  the 
mass"  also,  which  had  been  invented  by  Gre- 
gory, was  another  useful   auxiliary.     The  wily 
monk,  moreover,  assumed  such  austerity  of  man- 
ner, and  sanctity  of  deportment,  that  he  effectu- 
ally secured  the  veneration  of  the  deluded  mul- 
titude, and  by  his  pretended  miracles,  which  no 
juggler  of  the  present   day   could  surpass,  very 
easily  imposed  on  their  credulity.     Gregory  was 
transported  with  joy,   on  hearing  the  continued 

*  FuUer's  Ch.  Hist.  b.  ii.  p.  57. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  89 

prosperity  of  the  mission,  and  in  a  letter  to 
Etbelbert,  exhorted  him  to  assist  Augustine  in 
the  good  work  by  all  the  expedients  of  exhorta- 
tion, terror^  and  correction. 

Thus  early  did  the  Church  of  Rome  exhibit 
her  tender  mercies  of  '•''terror  and  correction'''^ 
towards  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  !  It  was  no 
matter  of  wonder,  therefore,  that  although  dur- 
ing the  lifetime  of  Ethelbert,  Christianity  nomi- 
nally prevailed  among  a  large  body  of  his 
Saxon  subjects,  yet,  on  his  death,  nearly  the 
whole  of  them  relapsed  into  idolatry,  from 
which  they  were  only  brought  back  again  to 
the  Christian  faith,  by  the  unwarrantable  fraud 
of  Augustine's  successor. 

Augustine's  views  were  chiefly  directed  to  the 
consolidation  of  his  own  authority,  and  the  ag- 
grandizement of  that  of  Gregory.  But,  notwith- 
standing all  his  efforts  to  bow  the  necks  of  the 
British  Christians  to  the  power  of  Rome,  the  Bri- 
tons, who,  amidst  all  their  wrongs  and  sufferings, 
had  rigidly  adhered  to  the  rules  and  customs  they 
had  received  from  their  forefathers,  showed  no 
disposition  to  surrender  their  independence  to 
the  lordly  prelate.  So  far  from  acknowledging 
the  Pope's  authority  over  them,  it  was  the  first 
time  they  had  even  heard  that  he  claimed  any  ; 
and  therefore  they  were  now  resolved  to  main- 
tain their  liberty.  This  resolution  Augustine  de- 
termined to  counteract ;  and  though  he  did  not 


90  THE    CHURCH    OF  ENGLAND 

pretend  to  have  received  any  authority  from  the 
Pope  for  his  acts,  he  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
reduce  them  to  submission. 

For  this  purpose  he  convened  a  synod 
602.  of  British  bishops,  proposed  to  them  a 
scheme  for  conforming  to  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  his  aim,  was 
not  sparing  of  promises  or  threats.  On  the  testi- 
mony, however,  of  the  Venerable  Bede,*  whose 
authority  as  a  Saxon  cannot  be  questioned  on 
this  point,  the  demamds  of  St.  Augustine  were  at 
once  rejected,  and  all  foreign  jwisdiction  over  their 
Church  was  repelled  bij  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
assembled  bishops. 

Saxon  oppression  and  tyranny  had  driven 
the  prelacy  of  the  British  Church  into  Cornwall, 
Wales,  and  other  mountainous  districts  of  the 
island.  There,  in  greater  security,  they  direct- 
ed their  ecclesiastical  affairs,  educated  their 
ministers,  and  watched  with  painful  solicitude 
the  progress  of  the  Popish  missionaries.  The 
metropolitan  Church,  for  greater  security,  had 
already  been  removed  from  Caerleon  to  Llan- 
daff,  and  thence  to  Mynyw,  afterwards  called 
St.  David's,  from  the  holy  and  venerable  man 
who  first  presided  over  it. 

To  the  Cambrian  confines,  therefore,  Augus- 
tine  now   directed   his   steps,   and  convened  a 

*  Bedse  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  ii.  c.  2.  Edit.  Cant.  fol. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  91 

seconrl  synorl,  at  a  place  called  Augustine's  Ac, 
or  Oak,  in  Worcestershire,  at  whicli  were  pre- 
sent seven  British  bishops,  and  Dinoth,  the 
learned  and  spirited  abbot  of  Bangor. 

These  pious  representatives  of  the  ancient 
Church  consulted,  on  their  way  to  the  confer- 
ence, a  hermit  renowned  for  his  piety  and  wis- 
dom. "If,"  said  the  recluse,  "Augustine  be  a 
man  of  God,  take  his  advice."  The  bishops 
stated  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining  his  charac- 
ter. The  hermit  denied  the  difficulty,  and  di- 
rected them  to  this  easy  test — "  Contrive  to  be 
the  last  at  the  conference — if  Augustine  shall 
rise  at  your  approach,  be  sure  he  is  a  true  ser- 
vant of  the  humble-minded  Jesus — if  he  shall 
receive  you  sitting,  he  is  not  a  man  of  God  : 
maintain  your  ancient  usages."  This  was  an 
unfortunate  test  for  the  hauo^htv  monk,  whose 
pride  had  but  just  been  gratified  by  the  popular 
admiration  that  had  followed  a  successful  jug- 
gle in  restoring  a  blind  man  to  sight.  The 
Britons  advanced — their  dignified  and  venera- 
ble appearance  claimed  the  respect  of  the  as- 
sembled multitude.  Augustine  condescended 
not  to  rise  from  his  chair !  but,  with  a  haughty 
look  and  a  repulsive  tone,  he  called  upon  them 
to  yield — "  I  demarid  of  you  three  things — that 
vou  keep  Easter  as  we  do — that  you  baptize  ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  ritual — and  that  you  unite 
with  us  in  preaching  to  the  Angles." 


92  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Dinoth,  the  intrepid  Dinoth,  unmoved  by  the 
haught}^  missionary,  arose,  and  made  him  the 
following  reply : — 

"  Be  it  known,  and  without  doubt,  unto  you, 
that  w'e  all  are,  and  every  one  of  us,  obedient 
subjects  to  the  Church  of  God,  and  to  the  Pope 
of  Rome,  and  to  every  godly  Christian,  to  love 
every  one  in  his  degree  in  perfect  charity,  and 
to  help  every  one  of  them,  by  word  and  deed, 
to  be  the  children  of  God  :  and  other  obedience 
than  this  I  do  not  know  to  be  due  to  him  whom 
you  name  to  be  Pope,  nor  to  be  the  Father  of 
Fathers,  to  be  claimed  and  to  be  demanded ; 
and  this  obedience  we  are  ready  to  give,  and  to 
pay  to  him,  and  to  every  Christian  continually. 
Besides  we  are  under  the  government  of  the  bishop  of 
Kae7'-leon-uj)on-Us7ce,  who  is  to  oversee  under  God 
over  us  ;  to  cause  us  to  keep  the  way  spiritual."* 

A  protestt  so  bold,  direct,  and  uncompro- 
mising, but  little  suited  the  fiery  temper  of 
Augustine,  who,  choking  with  rage,  and  des- 
pairing of  success,  cried  out,   "  Since,  then,  you 

*  Copied  from  an  ancient  British  MS.  by  Sir  H.  Spelman. 
Vide  Append.  No.  VIII.    . 

t  "  See  we  here,"  says  Fuller,  in  remarking  on  this  passage, 
"the  pedigree  of  the  British  Church,  which  the  shorter  the  an- 
cienter,  the  fewer  steps  it  had  the  higher  it  reached.  They  were 
subject  in  spiritual  matters  to  the  bishop  of  Caer-leon,  and  above 
him  unto  God,  without  any  subordination  to  the  Pope  :  so  that  it 
w^as  more  than  a  presumption  that  religion  came  into  Britain,  not 
by  the  semicircle  of  Rome,  but  in  a  direct  line  from  the  Asiatic 
Churches."' — Church  Hist.  b.  ii.  p.  61. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  93 

refuse  peace  from  your  brethren,  you  shall  have 
war  from  your  enemies."  These  words  were 
but  too  predictive  of  impending  slaughter  ;  for 
Augustine,  after  so  signal  a  failure  in  his  attempt 
to  draw  over  the  British  bishops,  at  once  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  Saxons,  and,  by  working 
upon  their  superstitious  attachment  to  himself 
and  the  Roman  see,  he  prevailed  upon  them  to 
attempt  the  subjection  of  the  British  Church. 
In  Ethelfrid,  king  of  Northumbria,  he  found  a 
willing  instrument  for  his  blood}^  purpose,  who, 
at  his  instigation,  attacked  the  Britons  at  Caer- 
leon  (Chester.)  On  the  field  of  battle  were  2000 
of  the  British  clergy,  totally  unarmed,  for  the 
purpose  of  encouraging,  by  their  prayers  and 
exhortations,  the  spirits  of  their  brave  defend- 
ers.* Ethelfrid,  on  observing  so  strange  a  sight, 
fearing,  no  doubt,  the  efficacy  of  this  unusual 
mode  of  encouragement,  told  his  soldiers,  that 
whilst  "  those  men  fought  with  prayers,  they 
fought  with  the  sword;''''  and  therefore  he  bid 
them  fall  on,  which  they  did,  and  killed  all  those 
priests  in  a  field  near  Chester.t 

Whether  or  not  Augustine  was  the  instiga- 
tor of  this  cold-blooded  murder  of  helpless 
priests,  he  certainly  bore  the  blame  of  it,  and 
entailed  on  himself  and  the  Romish  party  the 
execration  of  every  Briton.     Had  he  possessed 

*  Bedac  Hist.  Eccl.  Angl.  lib.  i.  c.  27. 
t  Seidell  on  Polyolb.  186. 


94  THE  CHUKCH  OF  ENGLAND 

more  humility,  and  greater  suavity  of  disposi- 
tion, his  name  miglit  have  gone  down  to  pos- 
terity with  honor  ;  but  whatever  share  of  glory 
might  be  his  due  for  evangelizing  the  Saxons, 
the  British  Church  could  only  regard  him  with 
fear  and  hate  ;  and  we,  on  considering  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times,  and  looking  back  at  his 
character  through  the  vista  of  1200  years,  while 
we  admit  that  some  credit  is  due  to  him  for  his 
talents  and  zeal,  and  unwearied  labor  in  con- 
verting the  Saxons,  yet  cannot  acquit  him  of 
that  haughty  intolerance,  and  reckless  persecu- 
tion, with  which  he  vainly  attempted  to  annihi- 
late the  British  Christians. — "  We  commende 
his  paines,  condemne  his  pride,  allow  his  life, 
approve  his  learning,  admire  his  miracles,  (?) 
admit  the  foundation  of  his  doctrines — Jesus 
Christ — but  refuse  the  hay  and  stubble  he  built 
thereupon."  * 

Disappointment  and  vexation  at  his 
605.  failure  in  securing  the  submission  of  the 
British,  seem  to  have  so  greatly  preyed 
upon  Augustine's  mind,  that  it  was  not  long  after 
this  that  death  withdrew  him  from  the  scene  of 
his  labors  and  his  troubles,  and  left  the  field 
open  for  other  Romish  adventurers.  His  place 
was  quickly  supplied  by  the  arrival  of  Lauren- 
tius  and  Justus,  and  by  the  elevation  of  Mellitus 

*  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist.  b.  ii.  p.  68. 


NOT  4  NEAV  CHURCH.  95 

to  the  see  of  London,  all  of  whom  exerted  their 
utmost  efforts  to  reduce  the  British  Chnrch  to 
conformity  to  that  of  Rome.  Their  failure,  how- 
ever, in  this  attempt  was  as  signal  as  that  of 
their  predecessors  ;  and  it  appears  that  with  the 
Saxons  themselves  they  were  not  much  more 
successful.  Gregory  seems  to  have  attribut- 
ed their  failure  in  the  latter  case  to  the  pre- 
judices they  had  excited  against  them,  by  their 
indiscriminate  destruction  of  the  Saxon  heathen 
temples.  He  therefore  directed  Mellitus,  for  the 
future,  not  to  destroy  those  temples,  but  simply 
to  cast  out  the  idols,  and  then  to  purify  them 
with  holy  water,  to  build  altars  within  them, 
and  to  place  relics  under  the  altars.  Yet  even 
this  indulgence  to  the  prejudices  of  the  people 
had  not  the  desired  effect — the  mission  languish- 
ed daily,  and  Laurentius,  who  had  succeeded 
Augustine  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  began  to 
turn  his  attention  to  other  quarters.  He  accord- 
ingly addressed  letters  to  the  Scottish  *  clergy, 
and  earnestly  invited  them  to  a  conformity  with 
Rome.  But  the  Scots,  as  also  the  Picts,  had, 
like  the  British,  still  retained  their  primitive 
plainness  and  simplicity  of  worship,  and  were 
*'  so  shocked  at  the   many  pagan  superstitions 

*  These  Scots  were  originally  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  who 
settled  in  North  Britain,  and  were  converted  by  Celestine  and 
Palladiiis.  They  continued  indejiendent  of  Rome  for  100  years 
after  this  attack  on  them  by  Laurentius. 


96  THE  CHURCH  OF  J:NCLAND 

and  ceremonies  introduced  by  Augustine  into 
the  Saxon  worship,  that  they  looked  upon  it  as 
no  better  than  paganism,  and  avoided  the  com- 
munion of  those  who  came  from  Rome  to  estab- 
lish it,  as  they  avoided  the  communion  of 
pagans ;  nay,  so  great  was  the  aversion  that 
the  Scots  in  particular  bore  to  all  the  Roman 
missionaries,  that  Daganus,  a  bishop  of  that  na- 
tion, not  only  declined  sitting  with  them  at  the 
same  table,  but  would  not  even  lodge  with  them 
under  the  same  roof."  * 

In  the  south  of  Britain  there  continued  the 
same  aversion  towards  the  Saxons  as  from  the 
beginning — no  approximation  had  yet  taken 
place  between  them  and  the  British  —  so  far 
from  it,  that,  according  to  an  ancient  chronicle, 
"  after  that  by  the  means  of  Austen  the  Saxons 
became  Christianes,  in  such  sort  as  Austen  had 
taught  them,  the  Brytans  would  not  after  that 
nether  eate  nor  drynke  with  them,  nor  yet  salute 
them,  bycause  they  corrupted  with  superstition, 
y mages,  and  ydolatrie,  the  true  religion  of 
Christe."  t  In  this  state  of  affairs  in  Britain, 
the  Saxons  on  the  point  of  entirely  relapsing 
into  idolatry, — the  British  as  hostile  to  the  Ro- 

*  Bower's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  vol.  ii.  This  is  confii'mecl  by 
Bede,  who  says  that  "  Bishop  Daganus,  when  he  came  to  us,  re- 
fused not  only  to  eat  with  us  at  the  same  table,  but  in  the  same 
house." — Lib.  ii.  c.  4. 

t  Quoted  by  Bp.  Davis,  a.,  d.  1565,  from  an  ancient  chronicle 
in  Ben.  Coll.  Lib,  Camb. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  97 

man  priests   as  ihey  were  to  the  Saxons  them- 
selves— no  wonder  that  the  missionaries  became 
disheartened,  and  at  last  determined  to  abandon 
a  cause  that  seemed  so  utterly  hopeless.     Mel- 
litus  and  Justus  accordingly  removed  from  Bri- 
tain.    Laurentius,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure, 
ordered  his   bed  to  be   laid  in  the  church,  at 
Canterbury,  where  he  passed  the  night  in  reli- 
gious exercises.     On  the  following  morning  he 
pretended  that  St.  Peter  had  visited  him,  and, 
chiding  him  for  his  intention  of  abandoning  the 
mission,  had  flagellated  him  severely.     The  la- 
cerated state  of  his  shoulders  seemed  to  prove 
the  truth  of  his  assertion.     In  this  pitiable  con- 
dition he  appeared  before  Eadbald,  Ethelbert's 
son    and   successor,    who    had,   on    the 
death  of  his  father,  apostatised  from  the      617. 
faith.     So  terrific  a  sight  powerfully  af- 
fected the  royal  apostate, — he  immediately  con- 
sented to  be  re-baptized,  recalled  Justus  and 
Mellitus,  and  did  all  he  could  to  repair  the  ruin- 
ous state  of  religion  in  his  dominions.     He  soon 
after  gave   his   Christian  sister   Ethelburga  in 
marriage  to  Edwin,  the  pagan  king  of  Northum- 
bria,  stipulating  for  the  free   enjoyment  of  her 
religion,  as  in  the   case   of  Bertha  her   mother. 
Edwin,  in  consequence  of  his  marriage,  and  by 
the  persuasion  of  Paulinus,  a  Roman  missionary, 
afterwards  archbishop  of  York,  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, and  most  of  his    subjects   tbllowed  his 

7 


9S  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

example  ;  but  on  bis  deatb,  tbe  wbole  of  North- 
iimbria  relapsed  into  idolatr}'-,  and  his  queen  and 
PauUnus  \vere  compelled  to  fly  the  country. 
Disastrous  as  was  this  state  of  things,  Edwin's 
conversion,  notwithstanding,  eventually  proved, 
indirectly,  highly  advantageo-us  to  his  country^ 
It  paved  the  way  for  a  ready  and  permanent  re- 
ception of  our  holy  faith,  tliougli  not  through  Tto" 
man  instrumentality.  When  Edv/in  prevailed 
over  his  rival  Ethelfrid,  the  soiis  of  that  priest- 
slaying  prince  took  refuge  in  Scotland,  where 
they  were  converted  to  Christianity.  Oswald, 
the  elder  of"  them,  on  tbe  death  of  Edwin,  re- 
turned to  Northumbria,  recovered  the  throne, 
and  determined  on  cbristianizino'  all  bis  sub- 
jects.  Happily,  his  exile  had  taught  him  that 
this  could  be  accomplished  without  Roman  inter-' 

vention:  he  sent  therefore  for  missionaries 
635.      to   his   friends  in  Scotland,  who  at  once 

despatched  to  him  Aidan,  a  bishop  of 
great  reputation.  In  setthng  a  see  for  this  ex- 
emplary prela^te,  no  regard  was  paid  to  papal 
arrangements.  Aidan  fixed  himself  at  Lindis- 
farne,  or  Holy  Island,  as  did  also  his  successors, 
Finan  and  Colman,  Scots  like  himself,  "uncon- 
nected with  Rome,  repudiating  her  usages,  and 
despising  her  assumptions."*  "  It  was  under 
these  prelates  of  British  origin,  it  was  under  a 

*  Soame's  Aiiglo-Bnxon  Clir.  p,  5/.- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  99 

religious  system  of  native  growth,  that  the  north 
of  England  was  evangelized."* 

A  large  portion  of  midland  Britain  was  even 
still  more  indebted  than  Northumbria  for  the 
same  blessing  to  the  British  clergy.  The  mar- 
riage of  Peada,  king  of  Mercia,  to  a  Northum- 
brian princess,  on  the  condition  of  his  embracing 
Christianity,  led  to  the  conversion  of  his  sub- 
jects, through  the  preaching  of  Diuma,  a  Scot 
by  birth,  whom  he  received  as  his  bish- 
op. Diuma's  three  immediate  successors  65G. 
were  also  members  of  the  British  Church ; 
and  under  these  four  prelates,  all  the  midland 
counties  of  Eno:land  were  converted. 

The  National  Church  exhibited  the  same 
zeal,  attended  with  the  same  success,  in 
her  endeavors  to  christianize  the  kins:-  654. 
dom  of  Essex.  Through  the  conversion 
of  Sigebert,  a  prince  of  that  kingdom,  during  his 
visit  at  the  Northumbrian  court,  Chad,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  British  Church,  receiving  episcopal 
consecration  from  Finan,  bishop  of  Northumbria, 
passed  over  into  Essex,  and  by  his  exertions  re- 
claimed from  idolatry  what  is  now  the  diocese 
of  London. 

East  Anglia  was  also  greatly  indebted  to  the 
ancient  British  Church  for  the  conversion  of  its 
Saxon  inliabitants.     "  Only  two  counties  there- 

*    Soaine's  Ai»glo*Sax«^>u  Chr.  p.  57  • 


102         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

land,  it  was  impossible  that  Christianity  could 
flourish,  or  exhibit  any  of  the  fruits  of  a  sound 
and  rational  religion.  As  practised  by  the  Sax- 
ons it  was  as  corrupt  as  it  well  could  be.  The 
adoration  of  the  one  true  God  was  superseded 
by  that  of  saints,  images,  and  relics.  "  Bount}^ 
to  the  Church  atoned  for  every  violence  towards 
society,"  and  the  most  infamous  crimes  were 
easily  atoned  for  by  penances,  and  servility  to 
the  priests.  These  scandals  in  the  Church  con- 
tinued unabated  to  the  time  when  the  see  of 
Canterbury  was  filled  by  Cuthbert,  who,  partly 
with  the  view  of  correcting  abuses,  and  partly  of 
drawing  closer  the  Romish  connexion,  convened 
a  synod  at  Cloveshoo,  near  Rochester,  a.  d.  747, 
at  which  a  body  of  canons,  for  the  future  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  was  drawn  up  and  promul- 
gated. Contrary  to  Cuthbert's  expectation,  the 
encroachments  of  the  see  of  Rome  were  brought 
forward,  and  formed  a  principal  subject  of  discus- 
tion,  as  appears  by  the  second  canon  of  Clove- 
shoo,  which  was  particularly  levelled  against 
the  Pope's  supremacy,  by  enacting  that  "  there 
should  be  a  perpetual  concord  through  the  whole 
ecclesiastical  system,  in  preaching,  in  living,  in 
judging,  without  a  servile  obedience  to  any  one  ; 
since  they,"  i.e.  the  clergy,  "  are  the  servants 
of  one  Lord,  and  mutually  engaged  in  the  same 
service." 

Unfortunately,  this    praiseworthy   endeavor 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  103 

to  correct  abuses  proved  abortive  ;  and  under 
the  increasing  corruption  of  the  times,  the  Saxon 
Church  was  readily  preparing  her  neck  for  the 
Roman  yoke.     Easy  was  the  progress  from   a 
superstitious    veneration    for   every   thing   that 
emanated  from  Rome,  the  head-quarters  of  cor- 
ruption,   to    submission    to    the    papal   tyranny 
there  established.     Nor  were  the  Roman  pontiffs 
slack  in  taking  advantage  of  every  opening  for 
pushing  their  pretensions,  as  was  exhibited  in  the 
time-serving  policy  of  Ofta,  king  of  Mercia.    This 
weak  and    vindictive   prince,  having  slain  the 
king  of  Kent,  determined  on  avenging  himself  of 
Lambert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  because  of 
his  having  espoused  his  adversary's  cause.    With 
the  view,  therefore,  of  lessening  that  prelate's 
jurisdiction,  he  resolved  on  establishing  an  arch- 
bishop's see   at  Lichfield,  and  easily  obtained 
from  Rome  the  confirmation  of  his  wishes,  by 
the  ready  acquiescence  of  the  Pope.     But  Offa 
was  a  man  ready  enough  to  degrade  the  Church 
still  farther  for  the  base  purpose  of  forwarding 
his  ulterior  views.     He  therefore  not  only 
gladly  admitted  two  popish  legates  into      7S7. 
his  kinirdom,  allowino:  them  at  the  coun- 
oil  held  at  Calcuith  to  interpose  their  advice  and 
authority,  but  very  shortly  afterwards,  out  of  a 
pretended  zeal  for  the  Church,  he  engaged  to 
pay  a  yearly  tax,  called  Peter  Pence,  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  English  college  at  Rome.     This  tax, 


102         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

land,  it  was  impossible  that  Christianity  could 
flourish,  or  exhibit  any  of  the  fruits  of  a  sound 
and  rational  religion.  As  practised  by  the  Sax- 
ons it  was  as  corrupt  as  it  well  could  be.  The 
adoration  of  the  one  true  God  was  superseded 
by  that  of  saints,  images,  and  relics.  "  Bounty 
to  the  Church  atoned  for  every  violence  towards 
society,"  and  the  most  infamous  crimes  were 
easily  atoned  for  by  penances,  and  servility  to 
the  priests.  These  scandals  in  the  Church  con- 
tinued unabated  to  the  time  when  the  see  of 
Canterbury  was  filled  by  Cuthbert,  who,  partly 
with  the  view  of  correcting  abuses,  and  partly  of 
drawing  closer  the  Romish  connexion,  convened 
a  synod  at  Cloveshoo,  near  Rochester,  a.  d.  747, 
at  which  a  body  of  canons,  for  the  future  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  was  drawn  up  and  promul- 
gated. Contrary  to  Cuthbert's  expectation,  the 
encroachments  of  the  see  of  Rome  were  brought 
forward,  and  formed  a  principal  subject  of  discus- 
tion,  as  appears  by  the  second  canon  of  Clove- 
shoo,  which  was  particularly  levelled  against 
the  Pope's  supremacy,  by  enacting  that  "  there 
should  be  a  perpetual  concord  through  the  whole 
ecclesiastical  system,  in  preaching,  in  living,  in 
judging,  without  a  servile  obedience  to  any  one  ; 
since  they,"  i.  e.  the  clerg}',  "  are  the  servants 
of  one  Lord,  and  mutually  engaged  in  the  same 
service." 

Unfortunately,  this    praiseworthy   endeavor 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  103 

to  correct  abuses  proved  abortive  ;  and  under 
the  increasing  corruption  of  the  times,  the  Saxon 
Church  was  readily  preparing  her  neck  for  the 
Roman  yoke.     Easy  was  the  progress  from   a 
superstitious    veneration    for   every    thing   that 
emanated  from  Rome,  the  head-quarters  of  cor- 
ruption,   to    submission    to    the    papal   tyranny 
there  established.     Nor  were  the  Roman  pontiffs 
slack  in  taking  advantage  of  every  opening  for 
pushing  their  pretensions,  as  was  exhibited  in  the 
time-serving  policy  of  Offa,  king  of  Mercia.    This 
weak  and    vindictive   prince,  having  slain  the 
king  of  Kent,  determined  on  avenging  himself  of 
Lambert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  because  of 
his  having  espoused  his  adversary's  cause.    With 
the  view,  therefore,  of  lessening  that  prelate's 
jurisdiction,  he  resolved  on  establishing  an  arch- 
bishop's see   at  Lichfield,  and  easily  obtained 
from  Rome  the  confirmation  of  his  wishes,  by 
the  ready  acquiescence  of  the  Pope.     But  Offa 
was  a  man  read}?"  enough  to  degrade  the  Church 
still  farther  for  the  base  purpose  of  forwarding 
his  ulterior  views.     He  therefore  not  only 
gladly  admitted  two  popish  legates  into      787. 
his  kinfrdom,  allowins;  them  at  the  coun- 
cil  held  at  Calcuith  to  interpose  their  advice  and 
authority,  but  very  shortly  afterwards,  out  of  a 
pretended  zeal  for  the  Church,  he  engaged  to 
pay  a  yearly  tax,  called  Peter  Pence,  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  English  college  at  Rome.     This  tax, 


104        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

though  at  first  received  as  a  free  gift  by  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  was  very  soon  claimed  as  a 
right.  And  to  this  trifling  circumstance  may  be 
attributed  the  origin  of  those  bold  pretensions, 
which,  in  after-times,  this  usurping  Church  ad- 
vanced to  the  submission  of  the  British  Church 
as  a  tributary  branch  of  the  Catholic  bod}^ 

The  British  Church,  in  the  mean  time,  con- 
tinued yet  clear  of  every  corruption,  and  stoutly 
maintained  her  independence.  Distinct  in  all 
respects  from  the  Saxon,  she  equally  resisted 
the  encroachments  of  Romanists,  and  the  cor- 
ruptions of  her  Saxon  oppressors.  She  regard- 
ed both  one  and  the  other  as  "  heathen  men  and 
idolaters,"  and  would  hold  no  manner  of  com- 
•  munion  with  them.  As  for  submission,  even  at 
this  dark  period  of  English  history,  she  rejected 
the  very  idea,  and  continued  to  conduct  the 
government  of  her  affairs  by  her  ow^n  independ- 
ent councils  and  synods — a  right  she  asserted 
from  the  beginning  to  that  mortifying  period, 
when,  bowed  beneath  the  iron  yoke  of  her  Sax- 
on and  Norman  masters,  she  was  compelled  at 
last  to  yield  herself  an  involuntary  \icl\m.  to  the 
Roman  power. 

The  Poj)es,  those  *' lords  over  God's  heritage," 
were  too  conscious,  as  well  as  too  jealous  of  her 
independence,  not  to  take  advantage  of  any  op- 
portunity favourable  for  lier  enslavement.  Ac- 
cordingl}^,  when,  by  a  decision  of  an  English  sy- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  105 

nod  held  at  Hertford,  the  jurisdiction  of  Wilfred, 
sole  prelate  of  the  Northumbrian  kingdom,  was 
considerably  abridged,  that  ambitious  bishop  ap- 
pealed to  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Agatho,  the  Pope, 
most  readily  admitted  the  appeal ;  but  it  was 
with  the  artful  view  of  recording  it  as  a  prece- 
dent for  the  future  subjection  of  England.  Wil- 
frid was,  therefore,  one  of  the  principal  instru- 
ments in  effecting  this  long-cherished  object  of 
Rome,  and  took  an  active  part  in  those  theo- 
logical controversies  which  raged  in  the  north  of 
Britain,  between  the  Romanists  and  British  di- 
vines, on  the  subject  of  the  tonsure,  and  the  time 
for  keeping  Easter.  The  British  Churches  fol- 
lowed the  practice  of  the  Asiatic,  in  celebrating 
the  Easter  Festival  on  the  first  Sunday  after  the 
thirteenth  of  the  first  moon  followini?  the  vernal 
equinox  ; — whereas  the  Romanists  lield  it  on  the 
first  Sunday  after  the  fourteenth  of  the  same 
moon.  At  a  synod  held  at  Whitby,  for  determin- 
ing this  dispute,  "  the  British  pleaded  the  anti- 
quity of  their  peculiar  usages — the  Saxons  insist- 
ed on  the  universality  of  theirs."  After  a  centu- 
ry of  contention,  the  British  Church  was  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  the  dictum  of  Rome  ;  and  this 
was  the  first  effectual  blow  to  her  independence. 
The  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  are  chiefly  me- 
morable for  the  degraded  state  of  Christianity  in 
Britain,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe. 
The  ignorance  and  corruption  of  the  clergy  were 


106         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

unparalleled  in  any  former  age — the  history  of 
the  Popes  is  the  history  of  monsters  throughout. 
Baronius  their  apologist,  admits  that  at  Rome 
*'  things  sacred  and  profane  were  at  the  mercy 
of  factions."  With  such  words  he  closes  his  an- 
nals of  the  ninth  century  ;  and  yet,  according  to 
his  own  statement,  these  "  monsters  of  Popes" 
were  "  legitimate  Pontiffs,  Christ's  Vicars,  and 
Infallible  Successors  of  St.  Peter  !  "*  The  same 
Baronius  declares,  moreover,  that  "  the  most  vile 
harlots,  the  mistresses  of  the  bishops  of  Rome, 
domineered  in  the  papal  see  " — that  "  at  their 
pleasure  they  changed  sees,  appointed  bishops, 
and  (which  is  horrible  to  mention)  did  thrust 
into  St  Peter's  see  their  own  gallants,  false 
Popes  !"  "  The  abomination  of  desolation  was 
now  truly  seen  in  the  temple  ;  Christ  was  asleep 
in  the  ship,  and  there  was  no  one  to  awake 
him."t 

No  wonder,  then,  that  the  people  partook 
largely  of  this  ignorance  and  corruption  of  their 
teachers,  and  easily  admitted  the  superstitious 
additions  made  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Church.  "Behold,"  exclaims  Baronius,  "a 
new  age  commences  its  course,  which  for  its  as- 
perity and  sterility  is  called  the  iron  age  ;  for  its 
deformity  of  overflowing  evil,  the  leaden ;  and 
for  its  dearth  of  writers,  the  dark  age."     Indeed, 

*  Note  to  Spanheim's  Eccl.  Ann.  p.  440. 
t  Spanheim's  Eccl.  Ann.  p.  440. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  10  7 

the  ignorance,  wickedness,  and  depravity  of  this 
time  cannot  be  overdrawn.  "The  world  seemed 
to  be  declining  apace  towards  its  evening,  and 
the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  to  draw 
near  ;  for  love  was  grown  cold,  and  faith  was 
not  found  upon  the  earth."*  Now  all  this  flood 
of  evil  and  ignorance  is  traced,  by  the  historians 
of  these  times,  to  the  flagitious  character  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs,  who,  for  the  space  of  150  years, 
were,  to  the  number  of  fiftij^  wicked  and  apostate 
men  t. 

This  deplorable  state  of  the  whole  body  ec- 
clesiastic, when  "from  the  sole  of  the  foot,  even 
unto  the  head,  there  was  no  soundness  in  it ; 
but  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores," 
— was  attended,  as  before  observed,  with  an  ex- 
traordinary addition  of  superstitious  practices  : 
— the  multiplication  of  reliques — the  canoniza- 
tion of  saints — lying  miracles — and  other  gross 
and  infamous  novelties,  were  admitted  without 
scruple.  The  public  service  of  God  consisted 
chiefly  of  the  mass,  consecrations,  oblations, 
prayers  to  images,  pictures,  and  saints,  obser- 
vance of  feasts,  &c.  The  worship  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  which  in  the  ninth  century  had  been  car- 
ried to  a  high  degree  of  idolatry,  received  in  the 

*  Bellarmine  de  Sacram,  lib.  i.  c.  8. 

t  It  is  notorious  that  one  Pope,  John  XII.,  was  only  twelve 
years  old.  when  he  was  elevated  to  the  Pontificate.  A  child  of 
only  five  years  old  was  elected  archbishop  of  Rheims. 


108        THE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAND 

tenth  century  a  further  superstitious  addition,  by 
the  institution  of  the  rosary  and  crown  of  the  Vir- 
gin. The  former  consists  of  fifteen  repetitions 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  150  salutations  of  the 
Virgin  ;  while  the  latter  is  made  up  of  six  or 
seven  Pater  Nosters,  and  six  or  seven  times  ten 
salutations,  or  Ave  Marias.* 

The  clergy  willingly  encouraged  these  ab- 
surd devices  ;  and,  instead  of  urging  the  people, 
to  search  and  obey  the  Scriptures,  they  directed 
them  to  the  canons  of  the  Roman  Church,  the 
decrees  of  the  Popes,  which  were  only  so  many 
helps  and  props  of  the  vilest  and  most  profane 
system  ever  invented  by  man.  This  general 
corruption  of  the  Western  Church  extended  it- 
self to  Eno^land,  thouoh  bv  no  means  to  the  ex- 
tent  it  had  done  in  other  countries.  The  doctrine 
of  image  worship,  as  authorized  by  the  second 
Council  of  Nice,  and  proposed  ineffectually  by 
king  OfFa  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  clergy  to- 
816.  wards  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  gain- 
ed a  little  ground  here  earl}"  in  the  ninth 
century  ;  when,  at  the  council  held  at  Celychyth, 
under  Wulfred,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  it  was 
ordered  that  on  the  consecralion  of  any  church, 
the  saint  in  whose  honour  it  was  built,  should 
be  "commemorated  on  its  walls." t 

*  Moslieim's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  429. 

t  "  Depictum  in  pariete  '' — whether  this  meant  l)y  means  of 
a  2^icturc  or  au  inscription,  may  perhaps  be  doubtful. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  109 

At  this  council  was  also  agitated  the  ques- 
tion respecting  monachism,  which  in  after-ages 
so  Ions:  distracted  the  Church  and  nation. 

Ethelwulf,  who  succeeded  his  father  836. 
Egbert  on  the  throne  of  England,  about 
twenty  years  after  the  council  of  Celychyth,  had 
been  educated  for  the  ministry,  by  Swithin, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  under  whose  tuition  he 
imbibed  a  violent  partiality  for  monachism  and 
popery  ;  and  during  the  troubles  by  which  his 
reign  was  agitated,  from  the  invasion  of  the 
Danes,  courted  the  fjivour  of  heaven  by  his  ex- 
traordinary patronage  of  the  Church.  Thus  he 
conceded  the  tenth  part  of  the  royal  domains 
for  the  perpetual  use  of  the  clergy,  settled  a  pen- 
sion on  the  Pope,  and  would,  no  doubt, 
have  surrendered  himself,  his  Church,  854. 
and  people,  to  the  entire  control  of  that 
Pontiff,  had  he  not  been  fortunately  deposed  by 
his  indignant  subjects. 

This  was  a  great  blow  to  the  ambitious  de- 
signs of  his  holiness,  and  was  the  means  of 
checking,  for  some  time  longer,  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  see  of  Rome.  For  Alfred  the  Great, 
notwithstanding  his  early  Roman  predilec- 
tions, on  his  obtaining  unexpectedly  the  871. 
crown  of  England,  showed  little  disposi- 
tion to  yield  to  any  of  the  papal  pretensions  ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  was  always  most  cautious  in 
guarding  against  any  acknowledgment  of  Roman 


110         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

supremacy  ;  and  though  he  was  confirmed  in 
his  regal  rights  by  one  Pope,  and  received  sev- 
eral valuable  presents  from  another,  yet  those 
marks  of  personal  attention  seem  to  have  called 
forth  little  or  no  correspondent  feeling  of  friend- 
ship. Unlike  his  predecessors,  Offa  and  Ina,  he 
procured  no  bulls  of  privilege  for  the  abbeys  he 
founded  at  Athelnev  and  Winchester,  or  his  nun- 
nery  at  Shaftesbury.  lu  his  anxiet}^  to  establish 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  other  public 
schools,  he  invited  none  of  the  learned  men  from 
the  see  of  Rome,*  he  received  no  legates,  per- 
mitted no  interference  in  his  synods,  and  even 
ventured  to  take  up  the  cause  of  Johannes  Scotus 
Erigena,  who  had  fallen  under  the  censure  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff. 

By  the  ecclesiastical  ordinances,  more- 
877.  over,  which  he  promulgated  in  877,  he 
effected  avast  deal  in  restoring  the  Church 
to  her  former  purity  ;  and  by  his  patronage  of 
learned  men,  his  numerous  literary  works,  and 
above  all  by  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the 
vernacular  tongue,  he  not  only  diffused  a  taste 
for  letters  generally,  but  particularly  a  spirit  of 
religious  inquiry  throughout  the  land. 

His  son  and  successor,  Edward  the 
904.      Elder,was  of  a  far  more  pliable  disposi- 
tion, and  tamely  submitted  to  many  in- 

*  vide  Appendix. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  Ill 

dignities  which  the  Roman  Pontiffs  were  be- 
ginning indiscriminately  to  heap  on  the 
princes  of  Europe.  Athelstan,  his  eldest  925. 
son,  was  a  relioious  and  his^h-mmded 
prince,  who,  by  his  strict  enforcement  of  the  law 
of  tithes,  and  his  introduction  of  Church-shot,  and 
sundry  provisions  for  the  building  of  village 
churches,  merits  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the 
Church  of  England. 

His  brother  Edmund  was  equally  zeal-  943. 
ous  for  the  Church,  and  was  a  liberal  pa- 
tron of  sundry  religious  establishments.  Under 
his  protection,  Dunstan,  the  celebrated  abbot  of 
Glastonbury,  established  for  the  first  time  in  Eng- 
land a  monastery  of  the  Benedictine  order  :  and 
after  his  elevation  to  the  see  of  Canterbury, 
in  Edgar's  reign,  effected  an  entire  revolu-  959. 
tion  in  the  government  and  discipline  of 
reli2:ious  establishments.*  With  all  his  faults, 
Dunstan  claims  our  admiration,  for  his  steady 
and  undaunted  assertion  of  the  Church's  inde- 
pendence of  Rome,  and  for  the  firmness  with 
which  he  ever  insisted  on  the  royal  supremacy 
— a  fact  deserving  of  special  notice  at  this  dark 
petiod   of  English  history,  as   marking,   in   the 

*  St.  Duustan  was  the  first  ecclesiastic  who  compelled  the 
English  clergy  to  put  away  their  wives.  Several  canons  were 
afterwards  formed  for  enforcing  their  celibacy,  but  they  failed  to 
produce  the  intended  effect — for  the  clergy  resolutely  resisted 
every  law  made  for  that  purpose. 


112        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

dearth  of  more  important  events,  the  yet  un- 
broken independence  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church. 
And  with  respect  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church,  it  is  equally  certain  that,  gross  as  were 
many  of  the  errors  and  corruptions  which  had 
already  tainted  the  orthodoxy  of  the  national  re- 
ligion,  yet  in  some  essential  points  she  still  repu- 
diated all  communion  with  Rome.  From  such 
materials  as  are  scantily  afforded  us  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Anglo-Saxon  divines,  it  is  most  satis- 
factory^ to  find  the  amplest  testimony  to  one 
important  truth — that  to  the  latest  period 
1066.  of  their  religious  histor}^  they  never  ad- 
mitted the  doctrine  of  Trans nbstantiation. 
The  writings  of  Elfric,  especially  his  Paschal 
Homily  and  his  two  Epistles,  abundantly  prove 
how  directly  he  was  opposed  to  the  Eucharistic 
belief  of  modern  Romanists  ;  and  there  is  equally 
strong  testimony  in  his  other  homiletical  writings 
against  the  further  novelties  of  the  Pope's  su- 
jpremacy,  infaUibiUty ,  and  absolving  fower.  The 
Homilies  of  Elfric  are  thus  invaluable  evidence, 
as  beating  down  that  fond  conceit  which  would 
identify  modern  Romanism  with  the  ancient  re- 
ligious S3'stem  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church  in 
some  of  the  cardinal  points  of  belief  It  is  true 
that  the  Saxon  homilies  countenanced  certain 
opinions  which  the  Reformed  Church  of  England 
has  since  rejected — "but  their  voice  upon  other 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  113 

distinctive  points  is  Protestant,"*  and  loudly 
lifted  up  against  those  numerous  superstitions 
which  every  day  were  more  and  more  openly 
distinguishing  the  Romish  Church  from  the  an- 
cient faith,  t 

The  whole  of  continental  Europe  was  fast 
approaching  to  a  state  of  the  most  deplorable 
ignorance  that  can  be  imagined.  The  Church 
was  every  where  so  debased,  that  it  was  suppo- 
sed b}^  those  who  yet  maintained  their  integrity, 
that  Satan  was  now  loosed  for  a  time,  and  that 
Antichrist  foretold  in  the  New  Testament  had 
appeared  previously  to  the  destruction  of  the 
world  ;  and  by  the  unnatural  and  unscriptural 
law  of  celibacy,  and  the  indolent  insolence  of 
monachism,  was  exhibitino;  the  distinsfuishinsr 
characters  of  the  arch-apostate. 

The   encroaching  power  of  the  Popes  kept 


*  Soames's  Hist,  of  the  Anglo-Sax.  Clir.  p.  24G. 

t  Whelock  also,  in  his  edition  of  Bede,  produces  evidence 
from  various  other  Saxon  homilies,  to  prove  that  the  British  and 
Anglo-Saxons,  before  the  Conquest,  did  not  believe  in  Tran- 
substanliation,  nor  in  Indulgences,  nor  in  the  Invocation  of  Saints, 
nor  in  Purgatory,  nor  in  the  propriety  of  restraining  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures ;  and  as  to  the  Popish  supremacy,  the  same 
writer  shows,  from  the  same  homihes,  that  the  Saxons  under- 
stood those  words  of  Christ,  "  Thou  art  Peter,"  &c.,  merely  in 
a  figurative  sense,  as  indeed  meaning  no  more  than  "  I  will 
build  my  Church  upon  the  faith  which  you  have  now  confessed." 
The  power  of  the  keys  is  explained  by  the  Saxon  homilists  as 
having  been  given  to  all  the  other  Apostles  as  well  as  to  St. 
Peter. 


114        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

pace  with  the  growth  of  corruption,  and  receiv- 
ed considerable  augmentation  in  the  elev- 
1095.  enth  century  from  the  crusades,  or  holy 
wars,  which  Sylvester  II.,  Urban  II.,  and 
other  ambitious  Popes,  purposely  fomented  under 
the  sanction  of  religion,  for  the  mere  purpose  of 
consolidating  their  usurped  power.  These  wars 
gave  them  extraordinary  influence  in  the  politi- 
cal world,  and  led  to  their  assumption  of  the 
titles  of  "  Lords  of  the  universe" — "Arbiters 
of  the  fate  of  kingdoms  " — "Universal  Fathers" 
— "  Supreme  Rulers  over  the  kings  and  princes 
of  the  earth."  Supreme  rulers  they  certainly 
were,  and  the  influence  they  acquired  over  the 
most  powerful  armies  that  Europe  had  ever  be- 
held can  scarcely  be  believed :  but  that  plenary 
indulgence,  or  pardon  for  every  sin,  which  was 
the  reward  of  a  crusader,  was  and  is  a  talisman 
of  irresistible  power.  The  Christian  princes  in 
time  became  exhausted  by  wars  that  swept  away 
of  the  flower  of  their  forces  upwards  of  6,000,000 
persons  ;  w^hile  the  Popes  grew  rich,  daring,  and 
omnipotent.  Leo  IX.  and  Gregory  VII.  (Hilde- 
brand)were,  without  dispute,  the  most  daring  of 
all  these  daring  men. 

What  effect  this  growing  power  of  the  Popes 
had  on  the  state  of  religion  in  Europe  was  easily 
discernible  in  the  retroo-rade  course  of  Chris- 
tianity.  "  A  miserable  superstition  enslaved 
the  minds  of  all  Christendom."     "  As  were  the 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  115 

people,  so  were  the  priests,"  from  the  lowest  to 
the  highest  rank.  The  lives  of  the  Popes 
abundantly  confirm  this  statement.  Sylvester 
II.,  Benedict  IX.,*  and  Gregory  VI.,  are  de- 
scribed by  various  writers  as  "  monsters  of 
men,  inf^imous  Antichrists,  flagitious  in  their 
lives,  tyrants  in  their  rule,  and  diabolical  in 
their  arts."t  Platina  calls  the  three  above- 
mentioned  Popes  "  three  most  dreadful  mon- 
sters " — and  most  of  these  "  monsters,"  who 
were  raised  to  the  pontificate  during  these  dark 
ages,  are  represented  as  being  "  indolent,  adul- 
terous, proud,  ignorant,  simoniacal,  covetous, 
and  bloody."!  Of  such  there  were  sometimes 
three,  and  even  five  infallible  Heads  of  the 
Church  at  the  same  time. 

Such  was  the  state  of  relimon  throus^hout 
the  papal  dominions,  as  exhibited  in  the  charac- 
ters of  her  teachers  !  No  wonder  "  the  soul  of 
Gregory  was"  so  extremely  "  grieved,"  ||  as  de- 
scribed by  the  credulous  Baronius.  Less  candid 
historians  have  been  equally  unsparing  of  these 
sad  times,  and  have  unanimously  represented 
the  state  of  the  whole  clerical  order  as  more 
degraded,  by  ignorance  and  depravity,  than  at 

*  Benedict  was  only  ten  years  old  when  he  was  elevated  to 
the  Popedom. 

t  Spauheim's  Eccl.  Ann.  Cent.  XI. 

X  Idem. 

II  Baronius  iu  Gregorio  VII.,  a.  d.  1075. 


116        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

any  former  period.  "  The  clergy  were  not  distin- 
guished from  the  people  by  any  purity  of  life. 
The  bishops  were  become  careless,  dumb  dogs, 
simoniacal  and  covetous."* 

In  England,  so  far  removed  from  tlie  head- 
quarters of  apostasy,  it  would  seem  that  the 
Pope's  increasing  influence  was  not  so  direct. 
Religion  had  yet  to  contend,  in  some  parts  of  the 
country,  w^ith  Saxon  and  Danish  idolatry, 
1030.  which,  in  the  reign  even  of  Canute  was 
of  sufficient  magnitude  to  require  the  en- 
actment of  the  following  special  law  for  its  sup- 
pression : — "  We  strictly  discharge  and  forbid 
all  our  subjects  to  worship  the  gods  of  the  Gen- 
tiles ;  that  is  to  say,  the  sun,  moon,  fires,  rivers, 
fountains,  hills,  or  trees  and  woods  of  any 
kind."f 

So  that  while  the  Church  had  to  contend  on 
the  one  hand  with  the  encroachments  of  Roman- 
ism, and  on  the  other  with  the  superstitions  of 
Paganism,  it  appears  as  if  she  was  the  more  re- 
solute, on  those  very  accounts,  in  keeping  her- 
self pure  from  the  contact  of  cither.  Under  the 
heptarchy,  and  at  the  moment  when  England 
was  passing  under  a  monarchical  form  of  gov- 
ernment, there  are  not  wanting  proofs  of  the  yet 
uncorrupted  state  of  Christianity  ;  and  many 
of  the  bishops   and  presbyters   of  the   British 

*  William  of  Tyre,  lib  i.  8. 

t  Henry's  Hist,  of  England,  b.  i.  c.  ii.  sect,  2. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  117 

Church  stand  forth  pre-eminent  for  their  piety 
and  learning,  even  at  that  dark  day.  During 
the  subsequent  iron  sway  of  the  Norman  conquer- 
ors, the  Church  of  England  still  maintained,  as 
will  be  shown  in  the  sequel,  her  ancient  inde- 
pendence, which,  at  the  restoration  of  the  Saxon 
line,  in  the  person  of  Henry  II.,  was  eventually 
lost. 

William,  surnamed  the  Conqueror,  on 
the  deposition  of  Harold,  and  before  his 
invasion  of  England,  pretended  the  utmost  defer- 
ence to  the  Roman  see ;  but  no  sooner  had  he  gain- 
ed his  point,  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Pope, 
established,  by  force  of  arms,  his  sovereignty  over 
England,  than  he  began  to  assert  his  indepen- 
dence of  the  papal  power  ;  and  in  spite  of  the 
menaces  of  Gregory  VII.,  when  that  arrogant 
pontiff  summoned  him  to  do  homage  for  his 
kingdom,  as  a  fief  of  the  apostolic  see,  sternly 
refused,  declaring  that  he  held  his  kingdom  of 
God  only,  and  his  own  sworcl^ — a  mortifying  de- 
claration, truly,  to  the  pride  of  him,  whose  power 
was  so  omnipotent,  that  according  to  his  bold 
panegyrist,  he  "  ruled  in  heaven."* 

Fortunately  for  the  English  Church,  this 
"  impious,  perjured,  perfidious,  cruel,  proud,  su- 
persitious  and  hypocritical  man,"t  was  too  busily 

*  Baroiiius. 

t  These  e[»iihets  were  applied  to  Gregory  by  Cardinal  Bemio. 
Vid'i  Spanheim,  Cent.  XI. 


118        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

occupied  by  his  wars  with  Henry IV.  to  pay  much 
heed  to  the  rebelUous  Norman  ;  for  while  he  was 
hurhng  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican  against  the 
German  emperor,  on  the  long-disputed  question 
of  the  Right  of  Investitures,*  William  peaceably 
enjoyed  and  maintained  his  right,  and  allowed 
nothing  to  be  transacted  in  Church  affairs  with- 
out his  sanction.  He  even  forbad  his  subjects 
to  receive  their  orders  from,  or  to  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  the  Pope  in  any  way.  The 
English  clergy,  on  their  part,  as  stoutly  opposed 
many  of  Gregory's  decrees,  and  especially  the 
one  he  issued  enjoining  their  celibacy.  The  doc- 
trine of  Transubstantiation  was  also  generally 
rejected  by  the  great  body  of  the  English  clergy. 
William  Rufus  was  not  of  a  more 
1087.  yielding  disposition.  In  defiance  of  papal 
1100.  menace,  he  kept  in  his  own  hands  the 
vacant  bishoprics  and  abbeys,  and  sold 
them  at  times  to  the  highest  bidder.  We  know 
also  that  his  successor,  Henry  I.,  successfully 
maintained  his  right  to  the  homage  of  all  bi- 
shops and  abbots  within  his  realm,  though  he 
yielded  the  point  of  investiture,  in  the  long-dis- 


*  The  right  of  investing  the  bishops  and  abbots  with  the  ring 
and  crosier  was  long  claimed  by  the  sovereign  princes,  and  led, 
as  might  be  expected,  to  continual  acts  of  simony.  This  right 
Gregory  insisted  on  recovering,  and  issued  an  anathema  against 
any  one  who  ventured  to  receive  investiture  from  the  hands  of  a 
layman. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  119 

putecl  case  of  Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. * 

Stephen  proved  himself  to  be  a  mere  1135. 
tool  of  the  Pope's  in  return  for  the  sup- 
port he  received  from  him  in  defending  his  bad 
title  to  the  British  throne.  His  reign,  moreover, 
"was  so  full  of  trouble,  that  undue  advantage  was 
taken  of  that  circumstance  by  the  Pope,  to  en- 
croach on  the  king's  prerogative  of  appointing 
to  the  legateship.  This  encroachment  seemed 
at  first  of  little  moment,  but  it  afterwards  led  to 
very  serious  consequences,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
through  the  legates  that  Rome  at  len2:th  trod  on 
the  necks  of  both  kings  and  clerg3\  t 

Henr}^  II.,  in  whom  the  Saxon  line     1163. 
was   restored,  was  neither  blind   to  the 
encroachments  of  Rome,  nor  to  the  evils  result- 
ing from  the  pretended  immunities  of  the  clergy. 
His  resolutions,  therefore,  in  the  earlier  days  of 
his  reign,  were  in  strict  accordance  with  the  con- 
duct of  his  Norman  predecessors.  He  determined 
to  check  the  grasping  power  of  the  Pope,  and  to 
lessen  the  privileges  of  the  clergy.     For 
this  purpose  he  summoned  the  famous     1164. 
Council  of  Clarendon,  near  Salisbury,  at 
which   were    produced,   debated,  and    ratified, 

*  He  proliibited  all  appeal  to  the  court  of  Emne,  which  was 
declared  to  be  "  unheard  of  in  this  kingdom,  and  altogether  con- 
trary to  its  tisagcs." 

t  Vide  Rapin's  Hi.st, 


120        THB  CHUaCH  OF  ENGLAND 

the  sixteen  celebrated  constitutions,  by  which 
Henry  established  his  jurisdiction  over  the  cler- 
gy, and  his  independence  of  the  Pope,  and  curb- 
ed the  pretensions  of  bishops  and  priests,  by 
bringing  them  under  the  cognizance  of  the  civil 
courts.  Against  these  constitutions  Pope  Alex- 
ander III.  entered  his  indignant  protest,  and  se- 
verely reproved  Thomas  a  Becket,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  for  daring  to  sign  them,  and  the 
bishops  and  clergy  of  England  for  following  his 
examjDle.  The  Pope's  remonstrance  proved  suc- 
cessfal  with  the  archbisliop,  who  speedily  recant- 
ed, and  most  violently  opposed  the  king.  His  op- 
position was  at  first  meekly  endured  by  Henry  ; 
but  at  length  became  so  pertinacious,  that  he 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  king.  This 
summons  the  haughty  prelate  treated  with  con- 
tempt ;  whereupon  the  bishops,  "  by  joint  con- 
sent, adjudged  him  of  peijury,  for  not  yielding 
temporal  allegiance  to  his  temporal  sovereign,  and 
by  the  mouth  of  the  bishop  of  Chichester,  dis- 
claimed thenceforward  all  obedience  to  him  as 
their  archbishop.  The  next  day,  whilst  the  bi- 
shops and  peers  were  consulting  of  some  fur- 
ther course  with  him,  Becket,  not  as  yet  daunt- 
ed, caused  to  be  sung  before  him  at  the  altar  the 
23d  verse  of  the  119th  Psalm,  '  Princes  did  sit 
and  speak  against  me,'  &c.  ;  and  forthwith, 
taking  his  silver  cross  in  his  own  hands  (a  thing 
strange   and   unheard-of  before),  enters  armed 


XOT  A  XEW  CilLfRCH.  121 

therewith  into  the  king's  presence,  though  ear- 
nestly dissuaded  by  all  that  wished  him  well. 
Wherewith  the  king,  enraged,  commanded  his 
peers  to  sit  in  judgment  on  him,  as  on  a  traitor 
and  perjured  person.     The  Earls  of  Cornwall 
and  Leicester,  who  sat  as  judges,  cited  him  to 
hear  his  sentence  pronounced.     He  immediately 
appealed   to  tlie  see  of  Rome,  as   holding   no 
judges  competent.    Whereupon,  all  reviling  him 
with  the  name  of  traitor,  and  the  like,  he  replied, 
that,  were  it  not  for  his  function,  he  would  enter 
the  duel  or  combat  wdth  them  in  the  field,  to 
acquit  himself  both  of  treason  and  perjury."* 

Such  being  his  insolent  pertinacity,  Henry 
was  compelled  to  depose  him  ;  and  the  degraded 
prelate  at  once  directed  his  steps  to  Rome, 
where  on  reaching  the  Pope's  presence,  he  took 
off  his  ring,  and  presented  it  to  his  holiness, 
whereb}''  he  formally  resigned  his  see  into  the 
Pope's  hands. 

"This  submission  on  his  part  to  the  Pope 
highly  oifended  the  clergy  of  England,  which 
they  considered  as  a  precedent  of  a  very  dan- 
gerous import. "t  He  afterwards  retired  into 
France,  v/here  he  continued  to  reside,  till,  through 
the  mediation  of  the  French  king,  his  restoration 
was  at  last  effected.  Becket,  however,  had 
profited  little  by  experience  ;    he  returned  the 


S2)eed.  t  SUult's  Antiq. 

8 


122  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

same  bold,  daring  man  as  before,  and  obstinate- 
ly persisted  in  his  opposition  to  the  king.     His 
insolent  career  was  soon  after  cut  short  by  the 
hands  of  four  assassins,  who,  regardless  of  his 
expostulations  and  threats,  slew  him,  after  an 
ineffectual  resistance,  at  the  very  altar  of  his 
cathedral,  at  the  hour  of  vespers.     The  misera- 
ble man   had  only  time  to  utter  the  following' 
words  : — -"Unto  God,  and  to  Sainte  Marye,  and 
to  the  saintes  that  are  patrons  of  this  church, 
and  to  Sainte  Denise,  I  commend  m.yself  and 
the  Church's  cause."* 

This  tragical  end  of  the  unbending  prelate 
led,  as  might  be  expected,  to  warm  discussions 
between  the  Pope  and  the  King,  which  ended 
at  length  in  the  complete  triumph  of  Alexander. 
Henry  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the  following' 
humiliating  conditions,  as  the  price  of  the  Pope's 
absolution: — 1.  Never  to  oppose  bis    holiness^ 
will.     2.  Not  to  hinder  appeals  to  the  Roman 
see.     3.  To  lead  his  troops  to  the  Holy  Land^ 
4.  To  make  restitution  of  all  property  he  had 
taken  from  the  cler2:v.     5.  To  abolish  the  con- 
stitutions  of  Clarendon,  and  all  other  obnoxious 
laws. 

Henry,  however,  had  not  yet  filled  up  the 
measure  of  his  humiliation — -he  agreed  to  w^alk 
barefoot  to  the  tomb  of  Becket,  and  submitted 


*  Hcliingshed- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  123 

to  receive,  on  his  bare  shoulders,  five  stripes 
from  each  of  the  five  prelates,  and  three  from 
each  of  the  eighty  monks  of  Canterbury,  who 
scouroed  him  with  knotted  cords.  He  then 
clothed  his  bleeding  body  in  sack-cloths,  and 
continued  kneelino:  on  the  cold  stones  all  that 
da}^  until  the  midnight  bell  tolled  for  matins, 
and  thus  remained  in  pvcijev  before  the  shrine 
till  break  of  day.  He  then  drank  some  water, 
mixed  with  some  of  Becket's  blood,  and  return- 
ed to  London. 

Thus,  after  centuries  of  conflict  and  1172. 
struggle,  was  the  Pope's  supremacy  es- 
tablished over  the  realm  of  England,  and  the 
extraordinary  power  of  the  Roman  see  exhibited 
in  the  humiliatins:  submission  of  one  of  the  most 
potent  princes  in  Europe.  The  long-cherished 
scheme  of  universal  dominion  was  consummat- 
ed by  this  successful  assault  on  the  rights  of  the 
British  monarchy  ;  and  with  the  independence 
of  Henry  fell  also  the  libert}^  of  the  British 
Church. 

But  if  Alexander  had  reason  to  triumph  in 
the  submission  of  so  powerful  a  British  sove- 
reign, Innocent  III.  had  no  less  cause  to  exult 
in  the  degradation  of  a  prince  but  little  inferior 
to  Henry  in  spirit  or  in  power.  The  primacy 
of  England  falling  vacant,  contrary  to  all 
law  and  rule,  the  Pope  at  once  appoint-  1211. 
ed  to  it  one  Stephen    Langton,  a  mere 


124        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

creature  of  his  own,  in  defiance  of  Kins:  John's 
previous  appointment  of  John  de  Gray,  bishop 
of  Norwich.  Innocent  at  first  adopted  concilia- 
tory measures,  but  Jolm  v/as  not  thus  to  be  won 
over  to  his  views.  He  signified  to  the  Pope, 
that  if  his  holiness  persisted  in  thus  invading  his 
just  prerogative,  he  should  at  once  break  off  all 
intercourse  with  Rome.  The  indiijnant  Pontiff, 
nothing  daunted,  immediately  laid  England  un- 
der an  interdict.  "The  nation  was  of  a  sudden 
deprived  of  all  exterior  e?<ercises  of  worship — • 
no  bell  was  heard — no  taper  was  lighted- — no 
service  performed — no  Church  open  ;"* — "  the 
dead  were  not  interred  in  consecrated  ground — 
they  were  thrown  into  ditches,  or  buried  in  the 
fields — the  people  were  forbidden  to  salute  each 
other,  or  to  shave  their  beards.  Every  circum- 
stance carried  s^anptoms  of  the  deepest  distress, 
and  of  the  most  immediate  apprehension  of 
Divine  venoeance  and  indiii:nation."f 

This  severe  interdict  having  failed  to  pro- 
duce the  least  submission  in  king  John, 
1213.  was  followed  by  a  formal  act  of  excom- 
munication. B}^  this  act,  his  subjects 
were  absolved  from  their  allegiance — tlie  throne 
declared  vacant — the  crown  offered  to  Phihp  of 
France — and  that  monarch  exhorted  to  invade 
England.     The  invasion  wa.s  determined  upon 

*  Soutbey'3  Book  of  the  Church.  -^  Hume's  Hist 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  125 

— the  fleet  and  army  prepared  to  act — and  in- 
evitable destruction  seemed  to  await  the  exc!om- 
muiiicatcd  monarchy  ofEno^Lind.  At  this  crisis, 
the  wily  Pope  despatched  Pandolph,  his  legate, 
with  the  offer  of  terms  to  John,  wlio  so  worked 
upon  the  ienrs  of  that  pusillanimous  sovereign, 
increased  no  doubt  by  a  prophecy  of  Peter  the 
Hermit,  that  the  crown  of  England  should  be 
j^iven  to  another  before  Ascension-dav,  that  he 
speedily  brought  him  to  submission.  King 
John,  in  fear  and  tremblin":,  affixed  his  seal  to 
the  act  of  his  humiliation,  and  swore  to  observe 
what  he  had  thus  subscribed.  But  his  de2:ra- 
dation  was  not  yet  complete — terrified  by  the 
hermit's  prophecy,  and  alarmed  at  the  threaten- 
ing aspect  of  every  thing  and  person  around 
him — on  the  day  before  Ascension-day,  he  laid 
his  crown  at  Pandolph's  feet,  and  signed  an  in- 
strument, b}^  which,  for  the  remission  of  his  sinsj 
and  those  of  his  family,  he  surrendered  the  king- 
dom of  England  and  Ireland  to  the  Pope,  to 
hold  them  thencfurth  under  him — for  himself,  his 
heirs,  and  successors,  he  sw^ore  liege  homage  to 
that  see,  bound  his  kingdom  to  the  annual  pay- 
ment of  1000  marks,  to  be  paid  for  ever  in  token 
of  vassalage,  and  renounced  for  himself  and  his 
heirs  all  right  to  the  throne,  if  the  agreement  on 
their  part  should  at  any  time  be  broken.  A 
sum  of  money  was  then  laid  down  in  earnest  of 
this  tribute,  which    Pandolph,  acting   his    part 


126        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

with  consummate  ^kill,  trampled  under  foot, 
anrl  m')reover  kept  the  crown  in  his  possession 
for  fiv^e  davs.  John,  in  the  shame  and  indiofna- 
tion  of  the  moment,  had  the  meanness  to  vent 
his  wrath  on  the  poor  hermit,  whom,  together 
with  his  son,  he  caused  to  be  put  to  death. 

Langton  now  came  forth  from  his  retreat — 
met  the  king  at  Winchester,  and  falh'ng  down 
at  his  feet,  asked  his  forgiveness.  The  primate 
made  him  swear  to  defend  the  Church,  and  to 
make  full  satisfaction  for  all  the  damages  that 
had  been  brought  on  individuals  by  the  Pope's 
interdict.  John's  abject  spirit  yielded  every 
point,  and  while  his  disgraceful  submission  did 
not  bring  him  even  the  respect  of  the  Romish 
party,  it  lost  him  the  confidence  of  all  his  sub- 
jects. From  this  moment  commenced  that 
memorable  struggle  between  John  and  his  barons 
— a  weak  and  temporising  king,  and  a  firm  but 
turbulent  nobihty — which,  after  a  violent  strug- 
gle, was  at  last  happily  terminated,  by  the  king's 
sinrnino:,  at  Runnvmede,  June  19,  1215, 
1215.  the  famous  deed,  called  Magna  Charta, 
which  was  the  ground-work  of  British 
liberty,  and  the  corner-stone  of  that  noble  fabric 
which  in  time  resulted  from  it — the  unrivalled 
Constitution  of  England. 

John,  however,  though  he  saved  his  crown 
by  this  concession  to  his  subjects,  felt  that  his 
signature  had   really  been  extorted  by  compul- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  1^7 

slon,  and  that  his  barons,  not  himself,  were  now 
the  rulers  of  England.  He  therefore,  as  a  fief 
of  the  Roman  see,  complained  to  the  Pope,  and 
entreated  his  interference.  Innocent,  but  too  wil- 
ling to  oblige  sofaithful  a  servant,  immediately  is- 
sued abull  of  excommunication  ac^ainsthis  rebel- 
lious  subjects,  annulled  the  whole  charter,  and 
forbad  the  king  to  consider  himself  bound  by  it.* 

The  barons,  on  their  part,  paid  no  attention 
to  the  bull.  Langton  received  orders  to  pro- 
nounce their  excommunication  ;  but  this  he  re- 
fused to  do,  and  was,  in  consequence,  suspended 
b}^  the  Pope's  legate.  Under  this  suspension 
that  courageous  and  high-minded  prelate  con- 
tinued till  after  the  death  of  both  the  Pope 
and  the  King,  when  he  was  reinstated  in  1216. 
the  primacy,  and  afterwards  became  the 
principal  agent  \i\  obtaining  for  the  barons, 
from  Henry  HI.,  the  full  confirmation  of  Magna 
Chart  a. 

Nothing  was  now  wanting  to  render  the 
Pope's  power  supreme  in  England  :  though  suc- 
cessfully resisted  till  the  end  of  the  Norii-an 
conquest, t  and  the  restoration  of  the  Saxon  line, 
yet  the  weakness  of  one  monarch,  and  the 
worthlessnesss  of  another,  at  length  brought  the 
Church  and  kingdom  of  England  prostrate  at 
the  feet  of  St.  Peter.     Great  dissatisfaction  was 

*  Mattbew  Paris.         t  Vide  Blackslone's  Com.  b,  iv.  c.  8, 


128        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

expressed  at  this  her  degraded  state  of  subjec- 
tion ;  but  it  was  in  vain  to  oppose  a  power  that 
wielded  all  the  wealth  of  Europe,  and  which 
held  an  irresistible  sway  over  the  minds  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  people.     Each  successive  Pope 
seemed  to  be  advancing  to  greater  degrees  of 
arrogance  and  aggression, — so  that  what  appear- 
ed impossible  to  Gregory  VII.,  in  the  eleventh 
centur}^,  was  a  matter  of  no  difficulty  to  Inno- 
cent III.,  in  the  thirteenth.     As  temporal  lord, 
the  Pope  now  acknowledged  no  superior,  and 
no  equal — he  was  the   fountain  of  all  honour, 
power,   and   rule — king   of  kings,   and   lord   of 
lords.     "As  a  spiritual  character,  he  sat  in  the 
temple  of  God,  asserting  himself  to  be  God,  im- 
maculate,  infallible,   uncontrollable."      He   de- 
clared  himself  to   be  the    "bridesfroom   of  the 
Church,  which  was  his  bride  :  and  that  for  a 
dowry,  the  fulness  of  spiritual  and  a  large  ex- 
tent of  temporal  things  were  given  him  :  and  he 
even  permitted  others  to  say  of  him,  that  they 
had  received  from  his  fulness — that  he  was  a  me- 
diator between  God  and  man — and  that  the  ponti- 
fical dignity  was  before  and  superior  to  the  im- 
perial   authorit}^"*     Pride    and    tyranny    had 
never  before  so  powerful  a  representative  as  In- 
nocent, under  whose  pontificate  the  gross  errors 
of  transubstantiation,  auricular  confession,  pur- 

*  Spanlieim's  Eccl.  Anu.  Cent.  xiii. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  129 

gatory,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  merit  of  work?, 
necessity  of  celibacv,  intercession  and  invocation 
of  saints,  &c.  became  more  and  more  interwoven 
with  the  Romish  system  of  theology.  And  that 
these  monstrous  departures  from  the  truth  might 
neither  be  detected  nor  exposed,  this  same 
Pope,  in  his  decretal  epistles,  prohibited  the 
reading  of  the  Gospels,  Epistles,  and  Psalms, 
b}^  the  laity,  in  their  vernacular  tono^ue. 

Such  was  the  man  under  whose  jurisdiction 
the  Church  of  England  had  at  last  fallen — such 
were  the  means  by  which  that  Church,  after  a 
successful  stru^'frle  aq-ainst  the  encroachments 
of  Rome  from  the  days  of  Augustine,  became 
overwhelmed  and  buried  in  the  flood  of  popish 
corruption  ;  for  with  her  independence  depart- 
ed also  her  purity  of  worship  and  doctrine  ;  and 
the  Church  of  England,  once  the  glory  of  Chris- 
tendom, and  the  bulwark  of  that  sound  "faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  became  idv^ntified 
in  the  main  points  of  doctrine  and  discipline 
with  the  Church  of  Rome.     No   lono-er  was  she 

o 

to  be  recognised  as  the  plain,  pure,  and  simple 
fabric,  which  an  Apostle  had  erected,  and  saints 
£ind  martyrs  had  beautified.  She  lay  buried 
under  the  overwhelming  w^eight  of  Popery ! 
Perranzabuloe — St.  Piran  in  the  sand  !  ! 


S* 


CHAPTER  V. 


"  The  course  of  Christianity  and  the  Christian  Church  may  not 
unaptly  be  likened  to  a  nrighty  river,  which  filled  a  wide  chan- 
nel, and  bore  along  with  its  waters  mud,  and  gravel,  and 
weeds,  till  it  met  a  great  rock  in  the  middle  of  its  stream.  By 
some  means  or  other,  the  water  flows  purely,  and  separated 
from  the  filth,  in  a  deeper  and  narrower  course  on  one  side  of 
the  rock,  and  the  refuse  of  the  dirt  and  troubled  waters  goes 
ofi'on  the  other  side  in  a  broader  current,  and  then  cries  out, 
"We  are  the  river. — Coleridge^s  Table   Talk,  vol.  i. 

The  tyranny  of  Papal  Rome,  under  which  the 
most  powerful  states  of  Europe  had  so  long 
groaned,  was  fast  approaching  a  crisis — the  mea- 
sure of  iniquity  was  nearly  filled  up,  and  it  was 
evident  that  cloads  were  gathering  in  the  west, 
portentous  of  the  coming  storm.  "  Surely  the 
wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Thee,  O  Lord  !  the 
remainder  of  wrath  shalt  Thou  restrain  !" 

The  long  career  of  wickedness  by  wdiich  Po- 
pery had  advanced  to  its  present  power  was 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND,  ETC.     131 

drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  political  troubles  and 
animosities  it  had  stirred  up  among  its  obsequi- 
ous subjects  in  many  of  the  more  powerful 
states,  were  beginning  to  show  signs  of  a  reac- 
tion, which  the  increasing  corruption  and  des- 
potism of  the  Pope  were  tending  rapidly  to 
augment. 

Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  who  succeeded  to  the 
pontificate  a.  d.  1294,  was  disposed  to 
outstrip  all  his  predecessors  in  priestly  1294. 
arrogance  and  depravity,  "  He  was  born 
to  be  the  plague  both  of  Church  and  State,  a 
disturber  of  the  repose  of  nations,  and  his  at- 
tempts to  extend  and  confirm  the  despotism  of 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  were  carried  to  a  lenQ:th 
that  approached  to  frenzy.  From  the  moment 
that  he  entered  upon  his  new  dignity,  he  laid 
claim  to  a  supreme  and  irresistible  dominion 
over  all  the  powers  of  the  earth,  both  spiritual 
and  temporal,  terrified  kingdoms  and  empires 
with  the  thunder  of  his  bulls,  called  princes 
and  sovereign  states  before  his  tribunal  to  de- 
cide their  quarrels,"  and,  in  a  word,  *'  exhibited 
to  the  Church  and  to  Europe  a  lively  image  of 
the  tyrannical  administration  of  Gregory  VII., 
whom  he  perhaps  surpassed  in  arrogance."* 
This  was  seen  in  one  of  his  earliest  acts  ;  for  he 
first  showed  himself  in  public,  "girt  with  a 

*  Moeheim's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  iii.  p.  186. 


132        THE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAND 

sword,  and  sustaining  an  imperial  crown,  and 
exclaimed,  '  I  am  Caesar,  and  also  Pope  ;  be- 
hold here  are  two  swords  !  '  alluding  to  his 
spiritual  and  temporal  authority." 

The  throne  of  France  was  about  the  same 
period  occupied  by  Philip  the  Fair,  a 
1300.  man  of  bold  and  enterprising  spirit,  and 
in  every  way  qualified  to  curb  the  mad- 
ness of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Of  this  Boniface 
was  so  sensible,  tha,t  he  determined  on  striking 
the  first  blow,  and  accordingly  at  once  address- 
ed a  letter  to  that  high-minded  prince,  in  which 
he  insisted  on  his  divine  right  to  the  submission 
of  all  temporal  kings.  Philip's  only  reply  was, 
'*  We  give  jouv  fool's  head  to  know,  tha.t  in  tem- 
porals we  are  subject  to  no  person."  The  Pope 
rejoined  by  publishing  the  celebrated  bull, 
"  Unam  Sanctam,"  in  which  he  declared  the 
king  an  heretic,  and,  as  such,  the  servant  of  per- 
dition. Philip,  in  the  council  held  at 
1303.    Paris,    a.d.   1303,   caused  the  following 

articles  to  be  decreed  against  him : 
That  he  was  guilty  of  simony  ;  that  he  was  a 
homicide,  usurer,  heretic,  epicure,  a  despiser  of 
religion,  and  guilty  of  incest ;  that  he  had  brib- 
ed the  Saracens  to  invade  Sicily  out  of  hatred 
to  France.*  The  Pope,  on  his  part,  answers  the 
accusation  by  pronouncing  the  sentence  of  ex- 

^'  Spauheim's  Eccl.  Ann.  Cent.  xiv. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  133 

communication  against  Philip  and  all  his  adhe- 
rents :  he  also  absolved  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance,  and  gave  the  kingdom  to  Albert  of 
Austria. 

The  king  could  not  quietly  brook  so  great  an 
insult ;  filled  with  indignation,  and  regardless  of 
all  consequences,  he  at  once  sent  William  de 
Nogaret,  a  bold  and  able  lawyer,  to  Italy,  with 
directions  to  seize  the  Pope,  and  carry  him  for- 
cibly to  Lyons,  where  he  determined  to  hold  a 
council  in  judgment  upon  him.  Nogaret  dexter- 
ously performed  his  part — seized  his  holiness  at 
Anagni,  and  would  have  taken  him  to  France, 
had  he  not  been  rescued  and  carried  back  to 
Rome,  where,  partly  from  mortification,  and 
partly  from  a  blow  inflicted  by  Nogaret,  he  died 
a  miserable  death. 

This  event  was  quickly  followed  by  another 
that  proved  equally  fatal  to  the  power  of  Rome. 
Philip,  strong  in  his  power,  and  quick  in  follow- 
ing up  his  advantage,  succeeded  in  appointing 
Clement  V.,  a  Frenchman,  to  the  pontificate  ; 
who  transferred  the  papal  residence  to  Avignon, 
in  France,  where  it  continued  for  seventy  years. 
Clement  proved  himself  but  little  inferior  to 
Boniface,  either  in  audacity  or  tyranny.  He 
compelled  Henry,  emperor  of  Germany,  to  tra- 
vel to  Rome,  and  receive  the  imperial  crown 
from  the  hands  of  cardinals.  He  afterwards 
gave  all  the  emperor's  dominions  to  Robert,  king 


134        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

of  Sicily  :  and  Henry  himself  was  deprived  of 
life  by  a  'poisoned  wafer  administered,  to  him  at  the 
Sacrament,  by  a  Dominican  friar.  The  ambas- 
sador also  of  the  doge  of  Venice  was  compelled 
to  prostrate  himself,  with  a  chain  round  his 
neck,  under  the  table  of  this  haught}^  Pope, 
while  he  was  at  supper. 

The  removal  of  the  head-quarters  of  Popery 
contributed  more  than  any  other  event  at  this 
time  to  shake  the  papal  throne  to  its  foundation. 
It  led  to  many  a  struggle  for  the  restoration  of 
St.  Peter's  chair;  but  the  issue  of  each  fresh 
attempt  only  the  rather  accelerated  that  schism 

in  the  popedom,  which  took  place  a.  d. 
1378.    1378.     This   great  Western   schism,  as 

it  was  called,  continued  for  fifty  years, 
during  which  period  the  Roman  Church  had  fre- 
quently two  or  three  infallible  heads  at  the  same 
moment.  In  its  consequences,  however,  it  pro- 
ved highly  beneficial  to  the  civil  and  religious 
interests  of  the  world.  The  head  of  the  dra- 
gon was  smitten  asunder — kings  and  princes 
once  more  began  to  recover  their  ancient  inde- 
pendence, and  the  people,  no  longer  blinded  by 
the  glare  of  a  false  lustre,  began  to  find  out  that 
the  "  interests  of  true  religion  might  be  secured 
and  promoted  without  a  visible  head,  crowned 
with  a  spiritual  supremacy." 

But  other  diseases  were  preying  on  the  vitals 
of  Poper3'=— the  scandalous   corruptions  of  the 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  13-5 

whole  system  of  monachism  were  unparalleled 
in  any  foriner  age.  The  mendicants,  especially 
the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  were  at  the 
head  of  the  monastic  orders,  and  by  their  rapa- 
city, insolence,  and  profligacy,  their  mutual  con- 
tentions and  meddlinsf  interference  in  relis^ious 
instruction,  drew  down  upon  them  the  bitter  ha- 
tred of  all  classes  of  the  people.  So  universal 
indeed  was  this  hatred,  that  in  almost  every  dis- 
trict and  university  in  Europe  these  sturd}''  beg- 
gars were  warmly  opposed  by  the  bishops  and 
clergy. 

The  university  of  Oxford  was  the  first  to  rise 
in  arms  against  the  Dominicans,*  who  had  pre- 
sumed to  interfere  with  the  system  of  education 
then  pursued.  Their  conduct  ^vas  so  generally 
condemned  that  parents  were  afraid  to  send  their 
sons  there,  and  the  number  of  students  in  con- 
sequence had  dwindled  down  from  the  number 
of  30,000  to  6,000. 

Fortunatel}^,  at  this  time,  there  was  a  man 
raised  up  by  Divine  Providence,  who  had  the 
courage  to  attack  these  friars,  and  skill  enough 
to  baffle  them  with  their  own  weapons.  This 
great  man  was  John  WiclifFe — a  name  to  be 
venerated  and  had  in  remembrance  by  the  Pro- 
testant Church  "  as  long  as  there  is  any  virtue, 
and  while  there  is  an}^  praise"  on  earth. 

*  Ant.  Wood's  Oxon.  Ant.  torn,  i. 


136        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

WicliiTe  was  first  known  as  Professor  of  Di- 
vinity, and  Master  of  Baliol  College,  and  soon 
acquired  considerable  reputation  by  his  success- 
ful disputations  with  the  friars  on  theological 
and  scholastic  subtilties.  The  scholastic  theo- 
loo:v,  as  it  was  called,  which  took  its  rise  in  the 
twelfth  century,  was  a  system  that  substituted 
logical  rules  and  definitions  for  Scripture  ;  and, 
at  this  time,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  confirming 
the  errors  of  Poper}'-,  exceeded  all  bounds  in  its 
sophistry,  barbarism,  and  impudence.  It  was 
now  ireneraliv  employed  about  idle  and  useless 
questions  respecting  purgatory,  tran substantia- 
tion, the  power  of  the  Pope,  &c.,  and  "  contin- 
ued to  darken  the  olimmerin2:s  of  truth  that  were 
struggling  for  existence,  till  the  glorious  dawn  of 
the  Reformation."* 

Against  the  "  unintelligible  gibberish"  of  this 
system,  WiclifFe  openl}^  protested.  Tlie  monks 
ot"  every  order  made  common  cause  against  him, 
and  endeavoured  to  eflfect  his  ruin.  But  Wic- 
lifFe, nothing  daunted,  manfully  maintained  his 
ground,  and  very  shortly  after  came  forward 
again  as  an  opponent  of  the  papal  power. 

It  happened  that,  about  this  time,  Edward 
III.  of  England  had  formed  a  league  with  Louis, 
king  of  Bavaria,  to  resist  the  Pope  in  liis  claim 
of  presenting  to  vacant  benefices,  andof  impos- 

*  Spanheim's  Eccl.  Aun.  Ceat.  xiv.     Moslieim's  Eccl.  Hist. 


XOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  137 

ing  taxes  on  the  clergy  of  their  respective  king- 
doms. A  very  spirited  remonstrance  was  sent 
to  his  holiness,  declarino:  that  "  wild  beasts  riot- 
ed  in  the  Lord's  vine3'ard  by  the  impesirion^,  of 
the  Church,  the  cure  of  souls  Avas  neglected,, 
and  mercenary  men  sought  only  temporary  ad- 
vantage;" and  the  parliament  (\>f  England  si- 
multaneously passed  an  act,  that  the  treasure  of 
the  kingdom  should  not  be  carried  be^'ond  the 
sea,  and  that  no  one  should  be  admitted  to  a 
benefice  by  a  bull  from  the  Pope. 

WiclifFe  openly,  by  his  writings,  espoused  the 
cause  of  Edward  in  these  matters,  and  especial- 
ly opposed  the  encroachments  of  Pope  Urban 
v.,  at  the  time  that  he  insisted  upon  that  mon- 
arch's doing  him  homage,  as  John  had  done  be- 
fore— a  demand  that  the  king,  supported  by  his 
parliament,  positively  rejected. 

The  reputation  that  WiclifFe  acquired  by  his 
writings  in  defence  of  the  king's  prerogative, 
was  the  occasion  of  his  beinc:  commissioned  to 
go  to  Bruges,  to  meet  the  Pope's  representative, 
and  there  personally  to  resist  the  papal  preten- 
sion to  the  presentation  of  benefices  in  England. 
On  his  return  to  England  he  attacked  the  Pope's 
supremacy  in  the  boldest  manner — held  him  up 
to  public  scorn  as  the  ^' man  of  sin,'' ^  the  ^^  son 
of  perdition,''''  whom  St.  Paul  prophetically  de- 
scribes "  sitting  as  God  in  the  temple  of  God, 


13S        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

showing  himself  that  he  is  God  ;  "   and  openly 
denounced  him  as  the  "  Antichrist." 

These  opinions  WiclifFe  boldly  preached  and 
published,  and  they  were  quickly  propagated 
by  his  disciples,  who  attacked  the  friars  in  their 
own  manner,  preaching  to  the  people,  and  going 
about,  as  he  himself  did,  barefooted,  and  in 
plain  frieze  gowns. 

It  was  not  long  before  Wicliffe  was  accused 
of  heresy ;  but  already  his  party  mustered  so 
strong  in  England,  that  according  to  a  contempo- 
rary writer,  Henry  de  Knyghton,  who  from  being 
a  violent  opponent  of  Wicliffe,  had  become  a 
convert  to  the  true  faith  by  his  preaching,  "  you 
could  not  meet  two  people  in  the  way  but  one  of 
them  was  a  disciple  of  Wicliffe."  He  was  also 
firmly  supported  by  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  at  that  time  administering  the  affairs 
of  England;  and  the  University  of  Oxford, 
where  he  was  so  extremely  popular,  had  the 
courage  to  refuse  obedience  to  a  mandate  from 
the  Pope's  nuncio  for  giving  him  up. 

Wicliffe  was  not,  however,  a  man  to  cower 
before  his  enemies — he  did  not  hesitate  to  obey 
a  precept  from  the  primate,  and  to  appear  be- 
fore the  council  convened  at  St.  Paul's.  Here 
the  demeanour  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and 
of  Lord  Percy,  the  Earl  Marshal,  was  so  vio- 
lent, the  council  was  hastily  concluded,  and  the 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  139 

accused  was  summoned  before  another  at  Lam- 
beth, which  also  was  abruptly  dissolved,  and  no 
sentence  pronounced,  "  because  they  feared  the 
people — for  all  men  counted  John  that  he  was  a 
prophet  indeed."* 

The  time  was  most  propitious  for  the  spread 
of  WiclifFe's  opinions  ;  the  great  western  schism 
had  just  begun,  and  "  the  spectacle  of  two  in- 
fallible heads  of  the  Church  anathematizino^  one 
another,  could  not  fail  to  open  the  eyes  of  Chris- 
tendom to  the  unwarranted  pretensions  of 
both."t 

Of  this  happy  combination  of  circumstances, 
so  providentially  overruled  by  the  Almighty  for 
the  good  of  his  Church,  Wicliffe  took  instant 
advantage,  and  published  a  Tract,  in  which  he 
effectually  exposed  the  ahsurdity  of  ascribing  in- 
fallihiUty  to  a  divided  Church,  In  order,  also, 
that  the  people  might  be  able  to  judge  for  them- 
selves of  the  truth  of  his  doctrines,  he  transla- 
ted the  Bible  from  the  Vulgate  into  English, 
with  a  careful  collation  of  other  versions  sub- 
joined. He  completed  this  wonderful  work 
without  any  assistance,  and  therefore,  as  it  must 
be  considered,  with  superhuman  labour  and 
learning.  "By  tliis  great  and  good  work  the 
pleasure  of  the  Most  High  prospered  in  his  hand. 
An  eager  appetite  for  scriptural  knowledge  was 

*  Fuller'9  Ch.  Hist.         t  Blunt  on  the  Reformat,  p.  8.5. 


140        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

excited  among  the  people,  which  they  would 
make  any  sacrifice,  and  risk  any  danger,  to  gra- 
tify. Entire  copies  of  the  Bible,  when  they 
could  only  be  multiplied  by  means  of  amanu- 
enses,* were  too  costly  to  be  within  the  reach  of 
very  many  readers  ;  but  those  who  could  not 
procure  the  volume  of  the  book,  would  give  a 
load  of  hay  for  a  few  favourite  chapters,  and 
many  such  scraps  were  consumed  upon  the  per- 
sons of  the  martyrs  at  the  stake.t  They  would 
hide  the  forbidden  treasure  under  the  floor  of 
their  houses,  and  put  their  lives  in  peril,  rather 
than  forego  the  book  they  desired  ;  they  would 
sit  up  all  night,  their  doors  being  shut  for  fhar  of 
surprise,  reading,  or  hearing  others  read  the 
word  of  God;  they  would  bury  themselves  in 
the  woods,  and  there  converse  with  it  in  soli- 
tude ;  they  would  tend  their  herds  in  the  fields, 
and  still  steal  an  hour  for  drinking  in  the  good 
tidings  of  great  joy.  Thus  was  the  Angel  come 
down  to  trouble  the  water,  and  there  was  only 
wanted  some  providential  crisis  to  put  the  na- 
tion into  it,  tliat  he  might  be  made  whole."  J 

*  As  proof  of  the  costly  price  of  MS.  copies  of  the  sacred. 
Scriptures,  it  is  recorded  of  Maximihim,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  thai  he 
oftered  the  toicn  of  Stranhiagen  to  the  abbey  of  St.  Emeran,  fjr 
the  purchase  of  a  copy  of  the  Gospels,  which  had  l^een  presented. 
to  it  by  the  Emjjeror  Henry  IV. — Martene^s  Second  Voi/a^e 
Litteraire. 

t  Attested  by  Fox  and  others. 

X  Blum's  Sketch  of  the  Keformatioa.  p.  9j. 


^OT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  141 

This  is  further  attested  b}^  an  historian  of  high 
depute  among  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  confes- 
ses that  by  the  publication  of  the  Bible  "  a  spi- 
rit of  inquiry  was  generated,  and  the  seeds  were 
sown  of  that  religious  revolution,  which  in  little 
more  than  a  century  astonished  and  convulsed 
the  nations  of  Europe."* 

Wicliffe  shortly  after  published  his  "  Conclu- 
sions" a2:ainst  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  which  had  been  first  made  an  article  of  be- 
lief bv  Innocent  III.  In  this  work  he  admira- 
bly  exposed  the  unscriptural  absurdities  and  nu- 
merous contradictions  of  the  doctrine.  His 
opinions  on  this  point  rapidly  gained  ground — 
his  followers  speedily  multiplied,  and  received 
the  appellation  of  Lollards,  a  name  that  certain 
persecuted  enthusiasts  had  already  obtained  in 
the  Low  Countries,  from  their  practice  of  sing- 
inof  hvmns — "  lollen"  or  "lullen,"  in  one  of  the 
old  German  dialects,  si2:nifvin2f  to  sino^.t 

Wicliffe  having  thus  attacked  popery  in  its 
strongest  hold,  proceeded  to  demolish  the  mum- 
mery of  penances,  satisfactions,  auricular  con- 
fessions, extreme  unction,  relics,  &c.,  and  earn- 
estly recalled  the  people  from  the  adoration  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  and  of  saints  and  images,  to 
the  worship  of  that  God  who  will  not  give  his 
honour  to  a  mere  creature. 

"  Dr.  Lingard's  Hist,    t  Whence  our  uurscry  '•  Lullaby.*' 


142        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

This  bold,   uncompromising  opposi- 
1377.    tion    raised    up    a    host  of   adversaries 
against  Wicliffe,  the  most  bitter  of  whom 
"Were  the   clergy   and   monks,   who   succeeded 
in  obtaining    an    order  from   Gregory   XI.  for 
his  imprisonment ;  but  so  great  was  his   pop- 
ularity at  this  time,    that    through  the   impor- 
tunity of  the  people  he  was  immediately  lib- 
erated.    About   five   years   afterwards,   on  the 
elevation  of  the  bigoted  W.  Courtenay  to  the  see 
of  Canterbury,  he  was  summoned   before  the 
Primate,  but  refused  to  appear.     Articles  were 
exhibited  against  him,  drawn  up  from  his  writ- 
ten   and    published  opinions  ;    and  though   the 
council  was  well  nigh  abruptly  dissolved  by  a 
great  eaisthquake,    which    was    interpreted   by 
many  as  a  divine  token  in  Wicliffe' s  favour,  yet 
by  Courtenay' s  dexterity   a   different  inference 
was  drawn,  his  opinions  were  condemned,  and 
himself  ordered  to  be  expelled  from  the 
1382.    University  of  Oxford.     But  this  part  of 
the  sentence  w^as  never  carried  into  exe- 
cution, and  Wicliffe  was  permitted  to  retire  to 
his  rectory   at  Lutterworth,  where  he  still  per- 
severed in  his  doctrine,  faith,  and  piety. 
1384.    Here  he    continued  till  the    day  of   his 
death,  unmolested  and  almost  unheard  of. 
His  writings,  however,  lifted   up  their  voice 
from    England,    and    were    rapidly   circulated 
throughout  Europe,  where  they  excited  the  most 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  143 

searching  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  his  state- 
ments, and  became  the  principal  instrument  on 
the  Continent  for  calling  forth  many  a  cham- 
pion and  witness  of  the  truth ;  among  whom 
were  John  Huss,  of  Bohemia,  Jerome,  of 
Prague,*  and  Malloesius,  of  the  same  city — men 
most  liigbly  distinguished  for  their  resolute  op- 
position to  the  papal  power. 

In  England,  "  the  New  Doctrines,"  as  the  Ro-^ 
manists  then  miscalled  tliem,  daily  gained  ad-* 
ditional  advocates. 

Henry  IV.,  who  succeeded  in  deposing  Rich- 
ard IL,  and  usurping  the  British  throne, 
principally  through  the  aid  of  the  clergy    1399* 
' — the  only  instance  on  record  of  the  dis- 
lo3^alty  of  that  body — -to  mark  his  gratitude  for 
their  interference,  issued  a  severe  statute  against 
all  who  should,  by  preaching,  writing,  or  teach- 
ing,  propagate    the   growing  opinions  :  and  he 
further  ordered  all  heretical  writins^s  to  be  de- 
livered  up   by  those  who  possessed  them,  and 
due  submission  to  be  made,  on  pain  o^ being  hurnt 
alive.    Transubstantiation  was  made  thetest  of  a 
man's  orthodoxy,  and  so  rigidly  was  it  applied, 
that  great  numbers  perished  in  the  flames  un- 
der the  brutal  direction  of  Archbishop  Arundel* 

*  These  two  martyrs,  according  to  the  testimony  of  iEuea3 
Sylvius,  afterward  Pope  Pius  IL,  "  suffered  death  witii  a  coustaut 
mind,  went  readily  to  the  stake,  as  though  invited  to  a  feast,  and 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  flames  sung  psalms  and  hymns." 


144 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAND 


Twelve  inquisitors  of  heresy  were  despatch- 
ed to  Oxford,  the  head-quarters  of  the  New  Doc- 
trines^ to    search   out  and  destroy   all  heretical 
persons  and  books.     These  inquisitors  executed 
their  commission  with  unsparing  fidelity — they 
weeded  the  College  and  University  libraries  of 
a  vast  number  of  condemned  books,  and    pre- 
sented as  heretical,  no  fewer  than  246  Conclu- 
sions drawn   from  WiclifFe's  writings  ;  and  not 
content  with  this  sweeping  condemnation,  they 
proceeded  to  condemn  Lord  Cobham's  opinions 
respecting  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
the  Adoration  of  Images,  and  Authority  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.    Cobham  maintained  his  opin- 
ions  boldlv ;  but  throuoh  Arundel's    influence 
was    at    last    committed    to   the    Tower,    from 
whence  he  was  brought  before  the  Consistory  in 
St.  Paul's,    where  in   writing  he   delivered  his 
opinions  upon   all   the  controverted  points.     He 
was  afterwards  more  strictly  examined  by  com- 
missioners ;  and   after  a  defence  worthy  of  his 
great  name,  and  the  glorious  cause  in  which  he 
was  engaged,  he  was  most  unjustly  condemned 
as  an  heretic  ;"  and  though  for  a  time  he  escaped 

*  Lord  Cobham  was  charged  by  his  enemies  with  having 
likewise  conspired  against  the  King's  life  and  govenmient ;  aud 
that  was  made  a  pretext  for  the  extreme  rancour  with  which  his 
enemies  followed  up  their  persecution  of  him.  The  historian 
Hume  repeats  this  base  fabrication;  but  be  it  remembered  that 
Hume  was  an  infidel,  and  therefore  very  readily  credited  eveiy 
story  that  reflected  upon  Christianity. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  1  45 

from  the   hands  of  his  enemies,  he  was 
eventually  hirnt  alive  in  the  most  cruel    1417. 
and  atrocious  manner,  as  were  many  oth- 
er Gospel  witnesses  about  the  same  time. 

But  these  shocking  barbarities  against  the 
Lollards,  so  far  from  suppressing,  only  the  rather 
awakened  that  spirit  of  free  inquir}-  which  was 
now  shaking  Popery  to  its  centre.  Other  means 
were  also  working  out  the  same  great  end.  The 
Council  of  Constance,  which  w^as  held  about 
this  period,  for  the  double  purpose  of  healing 
the  schism  in  the  Papacy,  and  for  putting  down 
the  Lollards,  greatly  accelerated  the  approach 
of  the  Eeformation  of  the  Church  by  the  very 
severity  of  its  proceedings.  The  infamous  con- 
demnation of  John  Huss,  in  breach  of  the  Em- 
peror's promise  of  a  safe  conduct,  and  the  no 
less  unjust  sentence  passed  on  Jerome  of  Prague, 
were  among  the  least  pardonable  of  its  acts. 
This  council  also  presumed  to  order  the  with- 
drawal of  the  cup  from  the  laity  in  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  a  novelty  in  ancient 
practice  that  gave  the  greatest  offence. 

But  nothing  more  strongly  marked  the  rancor- 
ous and  bitter  spirit  that  directed  this  council, 
than  its  persecution  of  the  dead.  Its  members 
did  not  content  themselves  with  condemning  the 
opinions  of  the  English  Reformer,  but  they  com- 
manded that  his  bones  should  be  dragged  from 
the  grave  where  they  had  reposed  forty  years, 

9 


140        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

and  should  be  committed  with  all  his  writings 
to  the  flames.  The  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  a  heart- 
less bigot,  carried  the  order  into  execution  ; 
opened  his  grave — reduced  his  bones  to  ashes — 
and  cast  the  ashes  into  the  river  Swift.  "  This 
brook  conveyed  his  ashes  into  Avon — Avon  into 
Severn — Severn  into  the  narrow  seas — they  in- 
to the  main  ocean  :  and  thus  the  ashes  of  Wic- 
liffe  are  the  emblem  of  his  doctrine,  which  now 
is  dispersed  all  over  the  w^orld."* 

But  this  attempt  to  quench  the  light  that  Wic- 
liffe  had  kindled  was  as  pitiful  as  it  was  una- 
vailing. In  vain  did  they  violate  the  sanctity  of 
the  tomb.  "As  there  is  no  counsel,"  sa3^s  Fox, 
*'  against  the  Lord,  so  there  is  no  keeping  down 
of  verity ;  it  will  spring  and  come  out  of  dust 
and  ashes,  as  appeared  right  well  in  this  man. 
For  though  they  digged  up  his  body,  burnt  his 
bones,  and  drowned  his  ashes,  3'et  the  w^ord  of 
God,  and  truth  of  his  doctrines,  Vvdth  the  fruit 
and  success  thereof,  they  could  not  burn.  These 
to  this  day  remain." 

The  eyes  of  all  Europe  had  beeii  fixed  on  this 
council,  in  the  earnest  expectation  that  it  would 
have  reformed  those  abuses  in  the  Church 
which  were  now  too  flagrant  not  to  be  universal- 
ly condemned  ;  unha.ppily  the  intrigues  of  car- 
dmals  and  bishops  prevailed  over  the  wishes  of 

*  Fnllpr's  Clmrfli  Uhf..  ■ 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  147 

honester  and  better  men  ;  and  the  council  broke 
up  without  effecting  the  wished-for  end. 

The  Council  of  Basil,  which  was  convened 
for  a   like    purpose   by   Martin  V.,    and 
continued  its  sittings   for  nearly  twenty    1431. 
years,   made  no   further   advance  in  the 
object  of  its  meeting  than  in  establishing  a  prin- 
ciple  which   to    this    day  divides   the    Romish 
Church,*  viz.:    that  "a  General    Council  was 
above  the  Pope."     The  assertion  of  this  princi- 
ple led  to  violent  disputes,  which  only  termina- 
ted by  the  deposition  of  the  Pope,  and  the  ele- 
vation of  Felix  V.  to  the  pontificate,  a.  d. 
1439.      Thus    the  question   as    to    ichere    1439. 
the  infallibilitv  of  the  Church   of  Rome 
reallv  exists,  was  rendered  more  doubtful  than 
ever,  and  never  can  be  satisfactorily  answered 
bv  Romanists. 

But  the  Reformation,  though  delaved  for  a 
season,  was  still  progressing.  In  England,  the 
blood  of  the  Wicliffites,  that  "  seed  of  the 
Church,"  was  beginning  to  bear  its  fruit — the 
cruelty  and  corruption  of  Rome  had  already 
alienated  the  attachment  of  the  people — the  dif- 
fusion of  Wicliffe's  version  of  the  Scriptures  in 
the  vernacular  tongue,  aided  as  it  was   by  the 

*  Vide  Downside  Discussion,  p.  152  and  162.  The  English 
bishops  at  this  council  claimed  precedency  before  those  of  Castile, 
in  Spain,  on  the  ground  of  "  Britaine's  conversion  by  Joseph  of 
Arinnthen." — Fuller's  Hint. 


148        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

providential  discovery  of  the  art  of  print- 
1440.    ing,  A.  D.  1440,  wasopeuirig  men's  63^68 

to  religious  knowledge  and  truth.*  A 
spirit  of  scriptural  inquiry  was  abroad  that 
could  now  be  no  longer  suppressed,  either  by 
the  decrees  of  councils  or  the  bulls  and  anathe- 
mas of  Popes.  The  abominations  of  Popery 
were  now  so  glaring,  that  even  Roman  Catholic 
writers,  so  far  trom  atten]pting  to  palliate  or  de- 
ny, openly  and  deliberately  exposed  them.    But 

*  Before  WiclitFe's  translation  of  the  Scriptures  no  entire  ver- 
sion of  them  had  ever  been  received  by  the  British  Church 
Cffidmou  in  the  seventh  century  had  paraphrased,  in  verse,  de- 
tached portions  of  them  only.  Bede  translated  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John ;  and  all  the  Gospels  had  been  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon, 
between  the  reigns  of  Alfred  and  Harold.  Elfric,  the  Saxou 
homiliast,  had  also  translated  several  portions  of  both  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments ;  but  the  art  of  printing  not  being  known,  the 
expense  and  labour  of  transcribing  were  so  great,  that  compara- 
tively but  few  copies  could  be  dispersed  abi'oad  beyond  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  monasteries  where  they  were  transcribed  ;  and  so 
slow  was  the  process  of  transcription,  that  100  Bibles  could  not 
be  procured  under  the  expense  of  7000  days,  or  of  nearly  twenty 
years'  labour.  What  has  not  the  art  of  printing  since  achieved  ! 
The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  issued,  in  the 
year  ending  April,  1842,  the  following  astonishhig  number  of 
Bibles,  &c.  :— 

Bibles 123,790 

Testaments 114,215 

Common  Prayer  Books        ....         339,294 

Psalters 11,243 

Other  Books         - 359,088 

Tracts 3,337,692 

Total 4,285,922 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  149 

the  Popes  themselves  hastened  forward  the  cri- 
sis. Paul  II.,  Sixtus  IV.,  Innocent  VIII.,  and 
Alexander  VL,  the  last  Popes  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  were  all  depraved  and  profligate  beyond 
belief.  Paul,  according  to  Platina,  was  infa- 
mous for  avarice,  luxury,  gluttony,  pride,  and 
oppression.  Sixtus  was  not  quite  so  vicious, 
but  more  avaricious  and  rapacious.  Innocent 
was  devoted  to  luxury,  pomp,  and  pleasures  of 
the  most  sensual  kind.  He  publicly  boasted  of 
the  number  of  his  illegitimate  children  /* 

Alexander,   however,  exceeded  them    all  in 
wickedness,  tyranny,  and  impiet}^  and 
even  carried  his  rapacity  to  such  a  height,    1492. 
that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  issue  dispensa- 
tions for  crimes  that  cannot  he  uttered. 

Julius  IL,  with  whose  pontificate  opened  the 
sixteenth  centur}',  was  a  man  in  no  de- 
gree inferior  to  his  predecessors  in  tyran-    1503. 
ny,  arrogance,  or  craftiness :  he  is  com- 
monly represented  by  even  papal  writers  as  a 
turbulent,  cruel,  simoniacal  and  designing  per- 
son ;  and  his  immediate  successor,  Leo 
X.,  of  the  family  of  the  Medicis,  so  fa-    15J2. 
mous  for  his  patronage  of  learning,  was 
infamous  for  his  debaucheries,   pride,  and  perfi- 
dy.    His  ignorance  of  religion  was  extreme,  and 

*This  gave  occusiou  lor  the  following  Kpi^i'imi  : — 
'•Octo  noceus  puoros  genuit,  totidemque  puellas, 
Huuc  meiito  poterit  dicero  Roma  Patrem." 


150         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

he  had,  as  it  is  supposed,  no  belief  in  the  truth 
of  Christianity. 

It  has  already  been  shown,  that  as  early  as 
the  twelfth  century,  the  sale  of  indulgences, 
which  commenced  with  the  bishops,  soon  be- 
came monopolized  by  the  popes,  who  making 
the  crusades  a  pretence  for  this  abominable 
traffic,  constituted  Rome  the  grand  treasure- 
house,  from  whence  they  were  issued  at  certain 
prices. 

The  crusades  being  no  longer  an  available 
excuse  for  their  sale,  other  reasons  were  put 
forth  from  time  to  time  for  this  exaction.  But 
as  the  depravity  of  the  people  was  the  grand 
support  of  this  storehouse,  it  became  the  inter- 
est of  the  Romish  clergy  to  allow  the  torrent  of 
wickedness  and  corruption  to  flow  on  unresisted. 
The  unbounded  prodigality  of  Leo  had  nearly 
drained  the  papal  coffers — they  must  be  replen- 
ished. Under  the  pretext,  therefore,  of 
1517.  expediting  the  building  of  St.  Peter's, 
this  arrogant  pontiff  caused  to  be  publish- 
ed throughout  Christendom  his  licence  for  the 
sale  of  indulgences,  whereby  the  remission  of 
all  sinsj  past,  lyresent,  and  to  come,  however  enor- 
mous their  nature,  was  guaranteed  to  all  who 
were  rich  enough  to  purchase  them.  These  in- 
dulgences were  regularly  farmed — "  the}^  were 
sold  in  the  gross  to  the  best  bidders,  and  were 
by  them  dispersed  amongst  the  retail  pedlars  of 


XOT  A   iXKW  ClilJllCH.  151 

pardons,  who  resorted  to  the  public-houses,  ex- 
hibited their  wares,  and  picked  the  pockets  of 
the  credulous."*  The  management  of  this 
wicked  traffic  in  Germany  was  entrusted  to  Al- 
bert,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  who  commissioned 
John  Tetzel,  a  Dominican,  to  carry  the  sale  in- 
to effect :  this  infamous  agent,  in  selling  these 
indulgences,  declared  that  "  the  souls  of  de- 
ceased persons  would  fly  from  purgatory  to  hea- 
ven, as  soon  as  the  jingling  of  the  money,  paid 
for  the  indulgence,  was  heard  in  his  box."t 

But  Vv'hiletho  Roman  pontiff  was  slumbering 
on  in  St.  Peter's  chair,  and  dreamt  least  of  all 
of  any  thing  to  disturb  his  repose,  or  to  lessen 
his  omnipotence,  it  pleased  God  to  raise  up  a 
man,  at  this  very  time,  most  eminently  qualified 
by  his  firmness  and  talents  to  stem  the  torrent 
of  papal  corruption.  Martin  Luther,  a  native  of 
Saxon}^,  and  professor  of  Wittemburg,  who  had 
long  asserted  the  doctrines  of  the  free  grace  of 
God,  and  the  necessit}"  of  righteousness  of  life, 
stood  forth,  the  undaunted,  uncompromising  foe 
of  the  sale  of  indulgences,  and  in  ninety-five  pro- 
positions maintained  the  imposture  of  the  whole 
system,  which  he  sent  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz,  with  a  respectful  remonstrance  to  Leo 
himself.  Had  the  Pope  but  listened  to  his  re- 
monstrance, and  perhaps  restricted  only  the  pro- 

*  Blunt  ou  the  Reformation,  p.  98. 
tSpanheiin's  Eccl.  Ann.  Cent.  XVI. 


152         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

fane  traffic,  Luther  would  scarcely  have   been 
heard  of  beyond  the  walls  of  Wittemburg ;  for 
that  he  continued  faithful  in  his   attachment  to 
the    Church   of  Rome,  even  after    his  Remon- 
strance, and  Theses  against  the  errors  of  Pope- 
ry, there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  providentially, 
the  impolitic   rashness  of  Leo,  and  the  frantic 
violence  of  Tetzel,  drove   him  to  a  more  deter- 
mined resistance,  and  afterwards  led  him  to  ex- 
amine more  severely  all  the  other  questionable 
points  of  Romish  faith   and    discipline. 

1520.  Accordingly  he  published,  in    1520,  his 
"  Tract  against  the  Popedom,"  in  which, 

it  has  been  well  observed,  he  draws  the  sword  ; 
and  then  his  "Babylonish  Captivity,"  in  which 
he  throws  awa}^  the  scabbard.  An  open  rup- 
ture was  the  consequence,  which  the  violent  and 
imperious  conduct  of  Cardinal  Cajetan  was  little 
calculated  to  heal.  The  thunders  of  Rome  were 
alreadv  heard  in  the  distance — a  bull  was  issu- 
ed  condemnatory  of  his  doctrines,  consigning 
his  books  to  the  flames,  and  denouncing  the 
severest  punishments  against  himself  and  fol- 
lowers. This  bull  Luther  publicly  burnt,  and 
appealed  to  a  general  council.     A    diet 

1521.  v/as  held  at  Worms  the  following  year, 
before  ^vhich  the  Reformer  pleaded  his 

cause  against  the  Pope's  nuncio.  He  was,  how- 
ever, condemned,  and  w'ould  have  suffered  as  a 
heretic,  but  for  the  powerful  support  he  received 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  153 

from  Frederic,  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  The  Re- 
formation,  however,  still  advanced,  and  Luther 
and  Melancthon  in  Germany,  and  Ulric  Zuingli- 
us  in  Switzerland,  continued  to  fan  the  flame 
which  all  the  power  of  Rome  was  unable  to  ex- 
tinguish. In  1529,  at  the  famous  Diet  of  Spire, 
the  Reformers  and  their  followers  acquired  the 
name  of  "  Protestants ,''''  by  their  protesting  against 
a  violent  decree  which  declared  unlawful  all 
changes  in  doctrine  or  worship  which  should  be 
introduced  previous  to  the  decision  of  a  general 
council.  And  in  the  year  following,  at 
the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  they  presented  their  1530. 
celebrated  Confession  of  Faith,  drawn  up 
by  the  learned  Melancthon,  in  which  it  was  made 
to  appear  that  the  differences  between  Protest- 
ants and  the  Church  of  Rome  were  so  many,  and 
of  such  vital  importance,  that  all  hopes  of  recon- 
ciliation were  at  an  end.  Decrees,  as  usual, 
were  passed  at  this  diet  against  the  Protestants, 
which  had  no  other  effect  than  that  of  uniting 
them  more  closely  together  for  the  purpose  of 
mutual  defence. 

The  year,  therefore,  had  not  closed  when  they 
assembled  at  Smalcald,  and  entered  into  a  sol- 
emn league  for  the  maintainance  of  their  reli- 
gious liberties,  hence  known  by  the  name  of  the 
League  of  Smalcald.  The  Emperor,  iniluenced 
by  their  determined  carriage,  concluded 

shortly  after  a  treaty  of  peaca^  with  ihem    1592. 

9* 


154      THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND,  ETC. 

at  Nuremburg,  revoked  the  decrees  of  Worms 
and  Augsburg,  and  left  them  to  the  full  en- 
joyment of  their  religious  emancipation.  Thus 
the  seed  which  our  own  WicklifFe  sowed  1-50 
years  before,  found  a  kindred  soil  in  the  fairest 
realms  of  Popery.  Let  us  see  how  it  returned 
in  ample  measure  to  bear  an  abundant  crop  on 
British  soil. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


*'  Clinstiauity,  that  pearl  of  great  price,  was  liid  with  trash  and 
iihh,  which  the  Romish  Church  had  heaped  upon  it:  our  Re- 
fonners  removed  only  what  loaded  and  obscured  it,  and.  restored 
it  to  its  first  beauty  and  lustre." 

The  proceedings  of  the  German  Reformers  were 
watched  with  the  most  anxious  attention  by  that 
portion  of  the  people  of  England  whose  minds 
were  imbued  with  the  like  spirit,  and  who  only 
waited  for  an  opportunity  to  throw  off  that  yoke 
which  neither  "  they  nor  their  fathers  could  bear." 
The  bold  and  heroic  stand  made  by  Luther  and 
his  followers,  against  the  tyranny  of  Rome,  was 
not  therefore  thrown  away — his  name  was  on 
every  tongue — his  writings,  together  with  those 
of  Huss,  Zuingle,  Melancthon,  and  others,  were 
eagerly  sought  after,  and  as  eagerly  read.  Tracts, 
with  popular  titles,  such  as  "  A  Booke  of  the 


J  56  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

OMGodand  New,"  "The  Biiryingof  the  Masse," 
&c.,  were  industriously  dispersed  among  the 
people.  TindalPs  Translation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament also  was  now  widely  circulated  :  and 
though  it  was  condemned  by  Lord  Chancellor 
More,  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Reformers,  and  ma- 
ny copies  of  it  were  burnt  at  Paal's-cross  by 
Bishop  Tonstall,  it  was  nevertheless  multiplied 
by  foreign  reprint,  everywhere  circulated,  and 
greedily  read.  In  vain  were  proclamations  is- 
sued, and  laws  enacted  against  heretical  books 
— in  vain  was  the  sharpest  espionage  resorted 
to — in  vain  were  the  fires  kindled  at  Smithfield 
and  the  Lollards'  Pit,  and  the  utmost  refinement 
in  cruelty  practised  in  the  burnings  that  there 
took  place.  It  was  now  be3^ond  the  power  of 
man  to  curb  the  spirit  of  resistance  that  was 
rising  in  the  majesty  of  its  omnipotence  against 
the  whole  system  of  Romanism — a  higher  hand 
was  directing:  the  destinies  of  England,  and  was 
*'  turningthe  fierceness  of  man  to  its  own  praise." 
Little  could  it  have  been  expected  that  Henry 
YIIL,  a  proud  tyrant,  a  gross  profligate,  and  a 
zealous  Papist,  was  to  be  the  instrument  for  effect- 
ins:  the  miqhtv  work — little  could  it  have  been 
anti-cipated  that  the  very  man  who  axquired  the 
title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Fahh  "  for  his  spirited 
attack  on  Luther,  should  become  the  champion 
of  the  Church  of  En2:land — and  still  less  credible 
was  itthatthe  very  method  adopted  by  the  Pope 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  157 

for  confirming  his  power  in  England,  by  legali- 
zinsf  the  kino's  marrias^e  with  his  brother's  be- 
trothed  wife,  Catharine  of  Arragon,  should  be 
overruled  by  an  iVllwise  Providence,  for  the  fi- 
nal subversion  of  it  in  this  kingdom  !  Yet  such 
was  the  fact.  Henry,  after  an  union  of  twenty 
years  with  his  wife,  began  to  entertain  scruples, 
whether  conscientious  or  not  cannot  be  deter- 
mined, respecting  the  lavv'fulness  of  his 
marriage.  An  accidental  expression  of  1529. 
his  opinion  concerning  the  Pope's  author- 
ity in  these  matters,  became  the  means  of  intro- 
ducins:  the  illustrious  Cranmer  to  the  Kind's  no- 
lice.  Henry  commanded  him  to  draw  up  the 
substance  of  his  opinions  on  the  divorce,  for  his 
own  guidance,  and  in  the  mean  time  awaited  the 
Pope's  answer  to  the  appeal  which  had  already 
been  sent  to  him.  Clement  VH.,  full  of  embar- 
rassment, equally  fearful  of  offending  the  King 
of  England  by  an  unfavourable  answer,  as  he 
was  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Catharine's 
nephew,  by  a  favourable  one,  sliowed  extraordi- 
nar}"  dexterity  in  his  management  of  the  appeal. 
Being  a  profound  dissembler,  a  subtle,  cautious, 
and  evasive  politician,  he  contrived  to  spin  out, 
most  adroitly,  six  years  in  fruitless  negotiation. 
The  king,  on  his  part,  had  not  been  idle  :  through 
Cranmer's  influence  he  procured  a  favourable 
opinion  from  almost  all  the  Universities  at  home 
and  abroad  ;  armed  with  vvhicli  authority,  and 


158  THE    CHUKCH  OF  EiNO^LANi) 

brooking  no  longer  the  Pope's  procrastination,  ' 
he  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands — caused  the 
divorce  to  be  proclaimed  in  his  own  court,  and 
in  open  defiance  of  papal  authority,  espoused 
Anne  Boleyn,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire. 
Thus  was  the  Rubicon  passed,  and  every  sub- 
sequent step  tended  still  further  to  widen  the 
breach  between  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Eng- 
land. The  death  of  Warham,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  afforded  Henry  the  first  opportuni- 
ty of  rewarding  the  services  of  Cranmer  by  an 
act  of  the  royal  prerogatve.  He  at  once  nomi- 
nated him  to  the   primacy,  an   appoint- 

1533.  ment  that  Cranmer  declined  at  first,  and 
accepted  most  reluctantly  at  last.  Three 

months  after  his  consecration  the  primate  pro- 
nounced the  sentence  of  separation  between 
Henry  and  Catharine,  and  confirmed  the  royal 
union  with  Anne  Boleyn. 

Thus  the  question  at  issue  between  the  Pope 
and  the  King  was  summarily  decided  ;  and  Hen- 
ry, de  facto,  proclaimed  himself  head  of  the 
Church  in  his  own  dominion. 

The  English  Parliament,  which  met  on 

1534.  the  15th  of  January  in  the  following  year, 
proceeded  to  pass  a  series  of  acts  which 

formally  emancipated  the  English  nation  from 
its  further  dependence  upon  the  Roman  see. 

All  pecuniary  exactions  of  the  Pope,  especi- 
ally  Peter  Pence,  were  wholly  abolished,  and 


NOT  A  NEW  CHUKCH.  159 

the  rigour  of  those  laws  which  had  been  enacted 
against  the  Lollards  was  considerably  abated. 
Cranmer,  moreover,  with  the  design  of  more 
completely  crushing  the  papal  supremacy  in 
England,  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the  Con- 
vocation and  the  two  Universities  an  all  but 
unanimous  denial  of  anv  ri2:ht  in  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff  to  claim  a  higher  jurisdiction  in  this  kingdom 
than  any  other  foreign  bishop.* 

TheKinof  also  sent  circular  letters  to  the  seve- 
ral  bishops,  enjoining  them  to  take  care  that  the 
clersv  throuohout  their  dioceses  explained  the 
propriety  and  necessit}'  of  the  changes  which 
had  just  taken  place  ;  and  that  henceforth,  "  the 
true,  mere,  and  sincere  word  of  God,"t  should 
alone  be  preached  in  the  churches.  And  by  an- 
other mandate  the  Pope's  name  was  ordered  to 
be  erased  from  all  devotional  books,  and  "  never 
more  to  be  remembered,  except  to  his  contume- 
ly and  reproach. "t 

The   Parliament,  which  met  towards 
the  close  of  the  3'ear,  confirmed  the  de-    1534. 
gree  of  Convocation,  and  by  a  public  act 
declared   that  tne   supreme   authority  over  the 
Church  of  England  should  henceforth  be  vested 
in  the  Crown. 

Henry  readil}' accepted,  and  re-entered  on  this 
ancient  right  of  British  monarchs,  and  during  the 

*  Collier's  Hist,  of  the  Church,  vol.  ii. 

t   Foxe.  964.  t  Foxe.  980. 


160  THE  CHUllCH  OF  ENGLAND 

remainder  of  his  reign  fully  exercised  the  recov- 
ered prerogative. 

But,  to  maintain  this  right,  it  was  ne- 
1536.  cessary  to  crush  an  influence  that  the 
bishop  of  Rome  still  possessed,  in  the 
wealth  and  numbers  of  the  monastic  orders.  He 
began,  therefore,  wdth  the  friars,  and  at  once  sup- 
pressed 376  of  the  smaller  monasteries,  appro- 
priating their  estates  to  himself.  The  larger  mo- 
nasteries took  the  alarm,  and  many  began  to  make 
the  best  terms  for  their  surrender  that  the  times 
weuld  allow.  The  dissolution  of  so  many  reli- 
gious houses  proved  a  serious  shock  to  society 
generally ;  for,  with  all  their  faults,  they  had 
been,  to  the  nation  at  large,  of  essential  benefit. 
They  had  universally  occupied  the  place  of  alms- 
houses, hospitals,  hotels,  public  libraries,  and 
schools  ;  so  that  their  suppression,  as  public  in- 
stitutions, convulsed  the  nation  in  every  quarter, 
and  added  a  fearful  amount  of  crime  to  the  annual 
list  of  delinquency — rapine  and  murder  filled  the 
land — the  natural  consequence  of  so  many  thou- 
sand outcasts  beino^  thrown  destitute  and  des- 
perate  on  society.  Cromwell,  who  had  been  the 
king's  political  adviser  in  this  extreme  measure, 
was  frightened  at  the  storm  he  had  himself  raised, 
and  therefore  advised  the  immediate  sale  or  gift 
of  the  abbey  lands  and  tithes  to  the  nobility  and 
gentry,  in  order  to  secure  their  acquiescence  and 
support.     "  Thus  Popish  lands,  as  it  was  said, 


NOT  A  NEAV  CHURCH.  161 

made  Protestant  landlords  ;  and  thus  the  lay 
impropriator^  a  character  hitherto  almost  or  alto- 
gether unknown,  took  his  beginning."  That  this 
spoilation  of  the  Church  proved,  at  the  time,  and 
again  in  the  disastrous  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  a 
main  support  to  the  Protestant  Church,  is  un- 
questir-nable  ;  but  ai  the  present  day,  the  evil 
resulti.ig  from  the  inadequate  provision  for  the  spi- 
ritual ivants  of  a7i  inc?'eased jfoptdation,  in  number- 
less instances  notoriously  traceable  to  this  act  of 
plr/ider,  more  than  counterbalances  the  good  po- 
licy of  the  original  measure. 

Cranmer,  though  a  friend  to  the  dissolution  of 
the  monasteries,  was  an  enemy  to  the  secular 
appropriation  of  the  Church  endowments  and 
tithes,  and,  in  conjunction  with  Bishop  Latimer, 
urged  the  council  to  apply  them  strictly  to  eccle- 
siastical purposes ;  but  CromwelFs  political 
views  little  accorded  with  the  religious  principles 
of  the  primate,  who,  on  this,  as  well  as  on  many 
other  occasions,  was  compelled  to  submit,  when 
resistance  was  worse  than  useless. 

But  while  Henr3^'s  council  were  thus  intent 
on  stripping  the  Church  of  its  outward  splendour, 
the  real  friends  of  the  Reformation  were  direct- 
ins:  their  labours  to  far  more  disinterested  and 
important  ends.  With  the  wealth  of  the  Church 
they  little  concerned  themselves ;  there  were 
abuses  and  corruptions  in  the  very  vitals  of  the 
ecclesiastical  system,  which  required  a  radical 


it)2  THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

and  immediate  correction.  The  religion  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  all  its  essential  points, 
was  still  established  bylaw,  and  it  still  possessed 
many  zealous  advocates  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
tr}^  Cranmer  felt  that  obstacles  so  serious  in 
their  nature  must  be  removed,  and  that  no  meth- 
od was  so  likely  to  succeed  in  doing  so,  as  ena- 
bling the  people,  by  an  appeal  to  an  authorized 
standard  of  faith,  accessible  to  every  one,  to 
judge  for  themselves  of  the  truth  of  the  argu- 
ments submitted  to  them.  The  Holy  Scriptures 
had  hitherto  been  a  sealed  book  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  people.  Wickliffe's  translation  was 
far  too  scarce  and  too  costly  to  meet  the  public 
demand.  Accordingly  the  primate  turned  his 
first  attention  to  the  publication  of  a  new  version' 
in  the  English  tongue,  and  urged  the  Convoca- 
tion to  solicit  the  royal  authority  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  King's  sanction  was  easil}^  obtained ; 
and  in  the  following  year  came  forth,  most  op- 
portunely, an  English  version,  from  the  pen  of 
Miles  Coverdale,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Exeter. 
This  work,  in  which  Coverdale  had  been  as- 
sisted by  many  of  the  Lutheran  divines,  was 
printed  at  Zurich,  a.  d.  1535,  and  was  dedica- 
ted to  Henry  YHI.  The  King  at  first  submit- 
ted it  to  some  of  the  bishops,  who  after  a  care- 
ful examination  declared,  that  though  it  had 
some  faults,  it  contained  no  heresies.     "Then," 


NOT  A  NEW   CHUKCH.  163 

replied  the  King,  "  if  there  be  no  heresies,  let  it 
go  abroad  among  the  people." 

The  publication  of  this  version  was  accompa- 
nied with  injunctions  to  the  clergy,  to  the  effect 
that  every  person  (parson)  or  proprietary  of  any 
parish  churche  within  this  realme,  shall  on  this 
side  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  ad  vincula  (August  1) 
nexte  comming,  prouide  a  boke  of  the  whole  Bi- 
ble, both  in  Laten  and  also  in  English,  and  lay 
the  same  in  the  quire  for  ever^^e  man  that  will 
to  loke  and  reade  thereon.  And  shall  discour- 
age no  man  from  the  reading  any  parte  of  the 
Bible,  either  in  Laten  or  English,  but  rather  com- 
fort, exhort,  and  admonish  everye  man  to  reade 
the  same  as  the  very  word  of  God,  and  the  spi- 
rituale  foode  of  manne's  soul,  whereby  they  may 
the  better  knowe  their  duties  to  God,  to  their 
sovereign  lord  the  King,  and  their  neighbour  ; 
even  gentilly  and  charitably  exhorting  them, 
that,  using  a  sober  and  modest  behavioure  in 
the  reading  and  inquisition  of  the  true  sense  of 
the  same,  they  doo  in  no  wise  stilly  or  eagerly 
contend  or  str3we  one  with  another  aboute  the 
same,  but  referre  the  declaration  of  those  places 
that  be  in  controversie  to  the  judgment  of  them 
that  be  better  learned." 

The  indefatigable   Coverdale  undertook  an- 
other edition  of  this  work    in    the    year 
1538,  at  Paris  ;   but  through  the  influence    1538. 
of  the  Papists,  all  this  edition  was  seized 


164        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

and  burnt,  excepting  a  few  copies.     The  types 
and  workmen  were  then  removed   to  London, 
and    in    the    following  year   came  forth 
1539.    Cranmer's,   or   "  the   Great   Bible,"  cor- 
rected by  Coverdale,  which  was  also  or- 
dered to  be  set  up  in  the  churches.     This  event 
was  the  subject  of  so  much  rejoicing  to  the  arch- 
bishop, that  he  declared  it  gave  him  more  plea- 
sure than  the  gift  of  1000/.  would  have  done.* 
The  people   equally  rejoiced  ;  whoever   could, 
purchased  a  Bible,  otherwise  many  individuals 
united,  and  bought  it  together.     And  it  was  a 
■common  thing  in  churches  to  see  a  man  reading 
it  aloud,  and  a  crowd  of  persons  around  him, 
listenino^  to    the  words   of  life.     These  Bibles 
were  generally  chained  to  the  desk,  to  prevent 
their  being  stolen  by  the  Papists. t 

In  the  mean  while  the  zealous  archbishop  set 
himself  diligently  to  the  task  of  restoring  to  the 
people  those  sound  doctrines  of  faith,  which  had 
so  long  been  overlaid  by  the  unscriptural  tenets 
of  Romanism.  Accordingly  he  drew  up  and 
proposed  to  the  consideration  of  Convocation, 
ten  articles  of  faith.  These  articles  were  far 
from  being  perfect  representations  of  Protestant 
or  Primitive  doctrine  ;  for  in  order  to  meet  the 
prejudices  of  the  Popish  party,  they  tolerate  the 

*  Strype,  p.  58. 

t  These  chained  Bibles  are  still  to  be  met  with  in  some  coun- 
ti-y  churches. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  165 

use  of  images  in  a  limited  sense — sanction 
prayers  to  the  saints  under  some  restriction — 
admit  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  penance,  and 
auricular  confession — and  acknowledge  the  actual 
presence  in  the  elements  of  the  eucharist.  They 
reject,  however,  the  doctrine  of  justification  on 
the  ground  of  personal  merit,  and  insist  on  the 
faith  of  a  Christian  being  comprehended  in  the 
canonical  Scriptures  alone.  These  articles,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  satisfied  neither  par- 
ty. They  contained  too  much  Romanism  for  the 
Protestants,  and  too  much  Lutheranism  for  the 
Papists.  It  could  not  well  be  otherwise — it  was 
impossible  to  restore  the  Catholic  faith  at  once 
to  its  original  purity  ;  a  debased  and  pernicious 
S3^stem  of  belief  had  so  long,  like  a  baneful  mist, 
darkened  the  religious  horizon  of  Europe,  that 
the  eyes  of  men  were  scarcely  able  to  endure  at 
once  the  bright  effulgence  of  divine  truth. 

Cranmer  was  a  wise  and  cautious  man,  and 
therefore  proceeded  discreetl}^  in  carrying  out 
the  Reformation  to  the  full  len2:th  he  intended. 
His  plans,  however,  were  continually  crossed  by 
the  capriciousness  of  his  royal  master,  who  suf- 
fered himself  to  be  swa3^ed  in-  the  moments  of 
his  waywardness  by  the  Romish  part}^,  at  whose 
head  was  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  a 
bitter  enemy  of  the  Reformers.  Cranmer  had 
soon  reason  to  lament  this  fatal  influence,  for  it 
effected  the  enactment  of  that  "  bloodv  statute," 


166        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

as  it  was  called,  the  Six  Articles,  whereby,  1. 
The  doctrine  of  trans ubstantiation  was  by  law 
established  ;  2.  The  communion  in  both  kinds 
denied  to  the  laity  ;  3.  The  marriage  of  the  cler- 
gy forbidden  ;  4.  Vows  of  celibacy  declared 
obhgatory  ;  5.  Private  masses  for  souls  in  purga- 
tory upheld  ;  6.  Auricular  confession  declared 
to  be  necessary.  Fire  and  fagot  was  the  punish- 
ment of  the  transgressors  of  the  first  article, 
and  to  be  huna:  as  a  felon  for  such  as  should  be 

o 

guilty  of  the  rest. 

Cranmer  manfully  opposed  the  passing  of 
this  infamous  act ;  but  in  vain.  His  voice  was 
overborne  by  Gardiner,  and  the  Howards  ;  and 
thus  did  Popery  once  more,  as  far  as  the  most 
pernicious  of  its  doctrines  were  concerned,  lift 
up  its  hydra  head  in  England. 

This  deplorable  reaction  is  attributed  by  ma- 
ny writers  to  the  rash  and  hast}^  dissolution  of 
the  monasteries,  of  which  between  the  years 
1537  and  1539,  no  less  than  645  were  destroyed, 
besides  ninety  colleges,  and  more  than  2000 
chantries  endowed  for  the  performance  of  mass- 
es for  the  dead.  By  the  suppression  of  so  many 
religious  establishments,  as  we  have  said  before, 
an  immense  number  of  dissolute  and  desperate 
men  were  turned  adrift  on  society,  whose  very 
existence  depended  on  the  re-establishment  of 
the  papal  jsupremacy.  Whether  such  was  the 
cause,  or  not,  the  consequences  were  most  la- 


XOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  167 

mentable,  and  the  exultation  of  the  Romish  party 
great  indeed.  The  penal  parts  of  this  execrable 
statute  were  immediately  carried  into  execution  ; 
the  prisons  of  London,  according  to  Fox,  were 
crowded  with  culprits — Latimer  and  Shaxton 
were  sent  to  the  Tower — and  great  numbers  for 
conscience'  sake  fled  for  safety  to  foreign  lands. 

By  the  "ill-assorted  marriage,"  moreover,  of 
Henry,  \vith  Ann  of  Cleves,  occasion  was  taken 
to  poison  the  King's  mind  against  the  Protestant 
party,  both  at  home  and  on  the  Continent ;  and 
so  w^ell  did  the  Romish  faction  push  their  oppor- 
tunit}^,  that  even  Cromwell,  the  King's  favourite 
minister,  fell  under  his  master's  heaviest  dis- 
pleasure— was  impeached  for  high  treason  b}^ 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  v»-as  with  Gardiner  at 
the  head  of  the  Popish  party — and  soon  after- 
wards was  condemned  and  executed  for  heresy 
as  w^ell  as  treason.  A  bitter  persecution  of  other 
Protestants  followed,  and  fire  and  sword  were 
once  more  in  active  operation  throughout  Eng- 
land. Thus  were  the  Six  Articles  as  fully  ef- 
fective as  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  could 
desire. 

The  mind  of  Cranmer,  in  the  mean  time, 
though  heavity  afflicted,  was  not  subdued  ;  it 
came  out  of  this  fier}^  trial  purified  of  much  of 
that  dross  which  at  this  early  stage  of  the  Refor- 
mation yet  debased  the  sterling  metal  of  his  judg- 
ment,    v^nrb  hnd  been  the  rase  with  Luther  nnd 


168        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Other  leaders  of  this  irreat  relimous  movement  : 
the  canker  of  Romanism  had  fixed  itself  so  deep- 
ly, it  could  not  be  at  once  eradicated. 

The  effect  of  the  Six  Articles  on  Cranmer 
was  to  produce  a  reconsideration  of  his  religious 
belief.  The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  that 
stumbling-block  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
was  one  on  which  he  had  hitherto  not  made  up 
his  mind  ;  he  now,  therefore,  reconsidered  the 
point  in  all  its  bearings — tried  it  by  the  test  of 
Scripture,  of  histor}^,  and  of  reason,  and  at  last 
came  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  unscriptural, 
unreasonable,  contradictory,  and  totally  unknown 
to  the  primitive  Church.  He,  therefore,  now  to- 
tally renounced  it.  Moreover,  when  the  King 
commanded  certain  commissioners  to  dra.w  up 
a  Summary  of  Doctrine  for  the  settling  of  the 
public  mind  on  matters  of  faith,  Cranmer  took 
special  care,  in  the  leading  part  he  had  in  draw- 
ing it  up,  to  adhere  to  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
in  which  he  was  supported  by  the  King.  This 
Summary  of  Doctrine  is  Protestant  throughout, 
strictly  accordant  with  the  ancient  faith,  and  was 
the  basis  on  which  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  were 
afterwards  founded. 

Though  this  Summary  was  not  at  the  time 
acted  on,  its  very  existence  was  a  severe  morti- 
fication to  the  Romish  party,  and  a  signal  tri- 
umph to  the  Reformers.  The  Romanists  were 
doomed  to  experience  a  further  mortification,  by 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  169 

n  proclamation  which  was  issued  at  this 
time  for  the  general  circulation  of  the  Ho-  1540. 
ly  Scriptures.  Bonner,  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, a  furious  papist,  was  compelled  to  swallow 
this  bitter  pill,  and  making  a  virtue  of  necessity, 
he  raised  six  Bibles  on  desks  in  St.  Paul's  ca- 
thedral, but  took  special  care  to  counteract  this 
apparent  liberality,  by  afl&xing  over  each  an  ad- 
monition against  any  one's  daring  to  make  any 
comment  on  passages  as  they  were  read  4  he  al- 
so prohibited  the  people  from  thronging  around 
the  desks  in  "  inconvenient  numbers."  But  the 
people,  in  utter  disregard  of  the  prohibition, 
•crowded  the  cathedral  for  the  purpose  of  read- 
ing, or  hearing  the  Bibles  read,  and  freely  com- 
mented upon  all  passages  that  condemned  the 
Romish  system. 

From  this  time  to  the  death  of  Henry  the  cur- 
rent of  the  Reformxation  alternately  ebbed  and 
flowed.  The  discovery  of  Queen  Catherine 
Howard's  infam^y  led  to  her  own  execution,  and 
the  disgrace  of  her  powerful  family ;  while  the 
Protestant  interest,  on  the  contrary,  was  further 
advanced  by  the  King's  marriage  with  Cathe- 
rine Parr,  widow  of  Lord  Latimer,  a  stanch  Pro- 
testant. Cranmer's  influence  also  again  prevailed 
against  the  machinations  of  Gardiner,  who,  when 
he  found  he  could  not  suppress  the  new  edition 
of    the    English  Bible,   artfully  proposed  that 

about  one  hundred  terms,  which  he  pretended  the 

10 


170         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

English  language  could  not  express,  should  be 
given  in  Latin.*  The  Convocation,  however, 
would  not  for  a  moment  entertain  so  extravagant 
a  proposition,  but  conceded  at  once  to  Cran- 
mer's  suggestion,  that  the  revision  of  the  Scrip- 
tures should  be  left  to  the  Universities. 

The  archbishop  next  directed  the  Convoca- 
tion's attention  to  the  profane  honours  which 
were  still  bestowed  on  images,  and  prevailed  on 
them  to  issue  an  order  to  the  clergy  to  clear  their 
churches  of  the  "  silken  vests  and  glimmering 
tapers, "f  and  other  unscriptural  appendages  of 
these  images  of  wood  and  stone.  Cranmer's 
suo-jrestion  respectins:  a  revision  of  the  ritual  was 
not  so  easily  embraced,  except  in  the  expunging 
the  Pope's  name,  and  that  of  a  fevv^  popish  saints  ; 
so  that  the  liturgical  books  of  the  former  reign 
continued,  witli  but  small  alteration,  to  be  still 
in  common  use. 

But  the  temple  was  yet  further  to  be  cleansed 
from  the  Romish  pollution,  and  Bonner — the  in- 
famous Bonner— was  himself  to  bear  witness  to 
the  extent  to  vrhich  at  this  time  corruption  had 
pervaded  the  whole  body  ecclesiastical.  In  the 
directions  issued  to  tlie  London  clergy,  among 
other  things,  he  forbids  the  exhibition  of  dramatic 

"^  Such,  for  iu.otauce,  as  ecclesia,  pontifex,  elementa,  adorare, 
sacrainentuin,  rayateria,  simulachrum,  sacrificium.  satisfactio,  pec- 
C'i'uni,  itloluui,  idulolatria,  hostia,  &c.-— Vide  Fidler^s  Ch.  H'xt. 

t  S  itmr<;'«  flisf.  nfthfj  Rpformalion,  vnl.  ii.  p.  oO''. 


NUT  A  NEW  CHUKCM.  171 

representations  in  the  churches  and  chapels.  It  ap- 
pears that  these  heathenish  practices  were  at  the 
time  very  prevalent,  and  under  the  name  of 
*'  ]M3'steries,"*  the  fictions  and  legendary  tales  of 
saints  and  monks  were  commonly  exhibited,  and 
became  at  last  the  readiest  way  that  could  be 
devised  for  turning  the  whole  system  of  Popery 
into  ridicule  and  contempt. 

Encouraging  as  were  present  appearances  to 
the  hopes  of  the  Reformers,  there  was  much  to 
fill  them  with  anxiety.  It  was  but  too  evident 
that  their  capricious  monarch  was  but  half  a 
Protestant — some  lingering  attachment  still 
clung  to  him  in  favour  of  the  errors  of  Popery. 
Hence  he  most  inconsistently  gave  his  consent 
to  the  restriction  that  was  now  imposed  on  the 
free  perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  a 
new  exposition  of  faith  and  duty,  called  1543. 
"  The  Necessary  Doctrine,"  compiled 
from  a  work  called  the  Bishops'  Book,  published 
under  the  approbation  of  Convocation  in  the 
year  1537. 

That  Cranmer  could  ever  have  permitted  the 
promulgation  of  this  "King's  Book,"  as  it  was 
called,  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground 

*"  Hence  many  churches  were  furnished  with  crypts,  (afiVTrreL, 
or  places  of  couceahnent,)  where  these  mysteries  were  piirily  ex- 
hibited, and  where  many  of  those  jugging  trijks  with  which  the 
,)rie3t3  were  wont  to  impose  upon  the  pejple  were  performed 
tvithout  the  fear  of  d(*tection. 


172        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

of  State  expediency  or  stern  necessity  ;  for  be- 
sides the  restriction  on  the  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, it  imposed  the  seven  sacraments — prayers 
for  departed  souls — the  salutation  of  the  Virgin 
Mary — and  gave  the  following  version  of  the  se- 
cond commandment : — "  Thou  shalt  not  have 
any  graven  image,  nor  any  likeness  of  any  thing 
that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  in  the  water  under  the  earth,  to  the  intent  to  do 
any  godly  honour  and  worship  unto  them.''^ 

Let  Protestants  remember  that  it  is  thus,  to 
this  day,  that  Roman  Catholics,  ashamed  of  the 
idolatrous  nature  of  their  religion,  shrink  from 
the  second  commandment,  and  either  omit  it  al- 
together, or  profanely  garble  and  pervert  it,  as 
Stated  above. 

Gardiner  and  his  party  thus  triumphed  for  a 
little  time,  in  the  King's  apparent  indifference, 
if  not  support ;  and  it  was  l)ut  too  evident  that 
the  moment  was  seized  as  a  favourable  one  for 
destroying  the  influence  of  the  illustrious  pri- 
mate. A  conspiracy,  which  Gardiner  evidently 
fostered,  if  he  was  not  the  author  of  it,  was  base- 
ly got  up  in  Kent,  for  the  purpose  of  inculpating 
Cranmer;  but  the  honest,  straightforward  con- 
duct of  that  innocent  man,  seconded  by  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Kinty  in  his  unshaken  inleiJ:ritv, 
baffled  all  the  machinations  of  his  enemies,  and 
exposed  the  infamous  part  that  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  had  taken  in  the   plot.     The  result 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  173 

of  this  failure  was,  that  the  archbishop  rosehigh- 
er  than  ever  in  the  prince's  favour  and  confi- 
dence, while  Gardiner,  in  the  same  proportion, 
fell  into  oreneral  disofrace. 

The  exposure  of  so  much  unmerited  malice 
towards  him  on  the  part  of  persons  whom  he  had 
bef  )re  favoured,  respected,  and  in  some  cases 
loved,  weiirhed  heavily  on  Cranmer's  spirits,* 
and  determined  him  to  counteract  the  severity 
of  the  Six  Articles  by  some  legislative  protection. 
This  he  accordingly  procured  without  much  dif- 
ficulty from  Parliament. 

He  could  not,  however,  prevent  the  Romish 
faction  from  obtaining  an  act,  wherein  an  alte- 
ration was  made  in  the  law  of  succession  in  fa- 
vour of  the  Princess  Mary  ;  and  their  success  in 
this  matter  emboldened  them  to  make  another 
attack  on  the  archbishop  in  Parliament.  Fortu- 
nately, the  King  was  now  quite  awake  to  their 
wicked  intentions,  and  therefore  crushed  the  con- 
spiracy in  the  outset. 

But  it  was  Cranmer's  misfortune,  or 
rather  his  glor}^  that  no  sooner  was  one  1545. 
Popish  intrigue  against  him  crushed,  than 
another  was  presently  concocted.  Thus,  in  the 
very  next  year,  charges  of  a  serious  character 
were  laid  before  Henry,  whereby  the  primate 
was  accused   of   having   "  infected   the   whole 

*  Strype's  Mem.  of  Cranmer.  p.  t73. 


174        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

realm  with  unsavoury  doctrine,  so  as  to  fill  all 
places  with  abominable  heretics,  and  that  this 
course  was  h'kel}'  to  shake  the  throne  itself."* 
The  King's  friendship,  however,  and  the  pri- 
mate's undaunted  firmness,  once  more  extrica- 
ted him  from  the  clutches  of  his  enemies,  and 
determined  him  to  devote  his  abilities  with  even 
greater  eneray  to  the  full  developement  of  his 
plans.  Retiring  to  the  peace  and  quiet  of  his 
seat  at  Bekeshurne,  he  there  applied  himself  to 
the  compilation  of  English  Litanies,  and  the  trans- 
lation of  Latin  Hymns  for  the  service  of  the 
Church.  He  also  directed  his  attention  to  the 
suppression  of  many  ridiculous  superstitions 
which  yet  were  retained  in  the  Church — such  as 
the   veilivg   of  the    Cross  in   Lent — kneeling  and 

creeinng  to  the  same,  ^'c,  in  all  which  he 
1-54:6.    enjoyed  the  King's  co-operation, t  who,  as 

his  reign  drew  nearer  to  its  close,  seemed 
anxious  to  make  some  atonement  for  his  past 
neglect,  by  now  forwarding  the  Reformation  by 
every  means  in  his  power.  Havin<?  once  taken 
his  resolution,  he  made  it  evident  that  hencefor- 
ward his  part  would  not  be  a  doubtful  one.  He 
began  to  put  down  the  Popish  party  with  a  firm, 
if  not  a  cruel  hand.  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, became  exceedingly  odious  to  him,  and 
was  the  first  to  feel  his  resentment ;  he  was  dis- 

*  Soames's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  ii.  p.  579. 
t  Collier's  Hisi.  vol.  ii.  p.  203. 


-NOT   A    \EW  CUL'RCH.  175 

carded  iVoin  coiui,  and  his  name  erased  from 
the  list  of  execulors  lo  the  royal  will.  The  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  and  his  son  the  earl  of  Surrey,  were 
arrested,  arraigned  on  a  charge  of  high  treason, 
and  the  latter  suffered  execution  on  Tower-hill. 
This  was  felt  by  the  R/nnanists  to  be  so  fatal  a 
blow  to  their  power,  that,  bereft  of  their  princi- 
pal stay  in  Church  and  State,  they  were  never, 
at  any  time  during  the  remainder  of  this  reign, 
able  to  rally  their  disheartened  forces. 

Henry  was  thus  permitted  by  Providence  to 
live  long  enough  to  remove  out  of  the  w^ay  some 
of  the  bitterest  enemies  the  Protestant  Church 
possessed.  Ha,ving  at  last  accomplished  as 
much  of  the  glorious  work  of  Reformation  as 
was  then  needful,  he  breathed  his  last,  a.  d. 
1547,  "  pressing  in  his  last  moments  the  hand 
of  Cranmer,  to  whom,  and  whom  only,  through 
evil  report  and  through  good  report,  he  had  ever 
been  faithful  and  true.  To  him  he  bequeathed 
a  church,  which  was  little  but  a  ruinous  heap  ; 
its  revenues  dissipated,  its  ministers  divided,  its 
doctrines  unsettled,  its  laws  obsolete,  impracti- 
cable, and  unadapted  to  the  great  change  it  had 
sustained."* 

Let  us  follow  the  Reformers  in  their  mighty 
undertaking,  and  let  us  watch  the  consummate 
skill,  the  cautious  discrimination  with  which  the 

"  Bluul  oil  ihc  Rji'ormitioii,  p.  l.'M. 


J  76  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND,  ETC. 

master-mind  of  Cranmer  extricated  the  Charch 
from  this  labyrinth  of  confusion  and  difficulty, 
removed  all  her  remaining  corruptions  and  de- 
formities, as  far  as  it  was  prudent  to  do  so,  and 
presented  her  to  the  admiration  of  the  Protest- 
ant world  in  that  beauty  of  holiness,  simplicity, 
and  independence,  which  the  weakness  of  prin- 
ces and  the  tyranny  of  Rome  had  defaced,  pol- 
luted and  destroyed.  The  Church  of  England 
was  about  to  re-enter  on  her  ancient  and  indis- 
putable birthright. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


"Our  reli.^on  has  neither  novelty  nor  singularity  in  it.  It  is  an 
old  relig^ion — it  is  of  age,  and  can  speak  for  itself.  It  has  been 
hauded  down  to  us  thiough  many  sufferings  and  persecutions, 
and  here  it  is  preserved.  It  contracted,  indeed,  in  the  coming 
down,  a  great  deal  of  rust,  by  the  falseness  and  carelessness  of 
its  keepers,  particularly  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  We  scowered 
off  the  rust,  and  kept  the  metal ;  that  is  the  Romish  religion, 
this  is  the  English.  They  added  false  doctrines  to  the  Christian 
faith;  we  left  the  one.  and  kept  to  the  other:  this  is  ancient, 
those  are  new." — Dr  Hascard's  Discourse  about  the  Charge 
of  NovcUy. 

Ix  all  the  transactions  of  that  great  crisis  we 
have  just  been  considering- — through  all  the 
turns  and  phases  ofthe  Church's  history  in  which 
we  have  accompanied  her  durino:  the  last  reign, 
so  extremelv  questionable  was  ihe  sinceritv  )( 
Henry,  that  his  death  was  rather  hailed  as  a 
blessing  than  felt  as  an  evil  to  the  Church.     The 


ITS         THE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAXD 

friends  and  cond actors  of  the  Reformation,  as 
they  had  placed  no  confidence  in  him,  so  could 
they  feel  no  gratitude  towards  him  for  anv  one 
of  those  half  measures  of  reform  he  introduced, 
by  the  very  tardiness  of  which  he  satisfied  nei- 
ther party,  whilst  he  disgusted  both.  Had  the 
Reformation  depended  upon  his  support  alone, 
we  should  in  all  probability  at  this  moment  have 
been  groping  our  way  in  the  gross  darkness  of 
popish  error,  or  the  light  of  Gospel  truth  might 
only  now  be  bursting  on  our  benighted  land. 
Protestanism,  therefore,  owes  but  little  thanks 
to  Henry,  who,  in  heart  a  papist,  and  in  con- 
duct a  despot  worthy  of  the  Church  in  which  he 
had  been  nurtured,  rather  delayed  than  acceler- 
ated that  mighty  movement  which,  from  the 
days  of  Wicliffe,  had,  by  virtue  of  its  own  prin- 
ciples, and  not  by  any  external  assistance,  been 
working  its  way  slowly  but  steadily  among  the 
great  mass  of  the  people. 

The  King,  as  well  as  the  Pope,  appears  to 
have  been  swaved  tbrou^fhout  the  strufjo^le  that 
was  so  long  maintained  between  them,  by  polit- 
ical rather  than  relisrious  motives  ;  and  if  the 
latter  lost  his  supremacy  over  England  by  an 
obstinate  adherence  to  state  considerations,  the 
former  certainly  can  claim  from  Protestants  no 
higher  praise  for  legalizing  their  resistance  of 
papal  aggression,  than  that  which  was  due  to  a 
fearless  appeal  to  the  rising  spirit  of  the  times — 


NOT   A   NEW  CHURCH.  179 

iA,  spirit  that  accorded  so  exactly  with  the  mind 
and  temper  of  a  capricious  t3'rant,  that  he  could 
not  avoid  taking  advantage  of  it,  for  it  admira- 
bly seconded    the    fierce   determination  of  the 
monarch  to  reiD:n  over  the  whole  Church  and 
State  as  the  supreme  head  of  both,  and  inde- 
pendent of  an\^  foreign  jurisdiction  whatsoever. 
Had  Henry  imbibed  the  scriptural  doctrines  of 
our  pure  religion,  he  would  have  eminently  de- 
served the  title  of  "Defender  of  the  Faith,"  for 
he  must  have  carried  the  Reformation  far  be- 
3^ond  the  point  at  which  it  was  taken  up  b}'  his 
successor  ;  but  caring  little  for  the  purity  of  a 
religion  whose  doctrines  convicted  him  of  sin, 
he  was  content,  not  from  any  love  for  Protes- 
tantism, but  hatred  of  the  Pope,  to  strike  down 
the  papal  arm  that  threatened  him,  and  to  rid 
himself  of  a  subjection  that  he  felt  to  be  both 
degrading  and  inconvenient.    Thanks  be  to  God, 
therefore,  for  thus  mercifully  overruling  the  an- 
gry passions  of  a  cruel  and  godless  prince,  to 
the  good  of  his  Church,  and  the  glor}'  of   his 
name !  and  for  raising  up,  at  this  critical  junc- 
ture, a  second  Josiah  for  his  Church  and  people 
in  the  person  of  the  youthful  Edward  ! 

Born  and  educated  with  the  utmost  care  in 
the  Protestant  faith,  and  called  to  the  throne  of 
these  realms  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years,  this 
3^oung  and  interesting  child  gave  early  proof  of 
**thc  excellent  spirit"  he    was   of.     Observing 


180         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

the  swords  that  were  to  be  carried  before  him 
at  his  coronation,  he  remarked  to  his  attendants 
that  one  was  wanting,  and  immediately  called 
for  a  Bible.  '■^  That,''''  he  exclaimed,  "is  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit ;  without  that  sword  we  are 
nothing — we  can  do  nothing  ;  by  that  we  are 
what  we  are  this  day  ;  under  that  we  ought  to 
live,  to  fight,  to  govern  the  people,  and  to  per- 
form all  our  affairs — from  that  alone  we  obtain 
all  power,  virtue,  grace,  salvation,  and  whatso- 
ever we  have  of  divine  strength."* 

During  Edward's  imnority  the  government 
of  the  country  was  vested  in  certain  commission- 
ers, who  took  on  themselves  a  difficult  duty 
when  they  assumed  the  direction  of  the  public 
affairs,  which,  as  relating  both  to  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  administration  of  them,  were  of 
the  most  complicated  and  discordant  character.. 
The  Church,  at  Henry's  death,  was,  as  has  al- 
ready been  shown,  in  the  utmost  disorder  ;  all 
her  members  were  out  of  joint,  and  truly  might 
it  be  said  "there  was  no  whole  part  in  her.'^ 
It  required,  therefore,  the  most  consummate 
skill  and  judgment  to  reduce  so  deranged  a  mass 
to  order,  uniformity,  and  agreement. 

The  Reformation,  as  far  as  it  had  yet  pro- 
ceeded, had  removed  but  little  of  that  gross 
weight    of  error    and    superstition    which    still 

•*  Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  vol.  ii.  p.  IS**. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  181 

pressed  heavily  on  her  doctrine  and  discipline. 
An  overwhelming  load  of  corruption,  the  ac- 
cumulation of  600  years,  was  yet  to  be  cleared 
away,  and  much  labour  and  care  were  neces- 
sary in  proceeding  with  the  work  of  arrange- 
ment and  restoration.  The  workmen  were  wor- 
thy of  the  work,  and  equal  to  the  labour ;  they 
"proceeded  with  exemplary  prudence,  precipi- 
tating nothing,  but  gradually  unfolding  their 
well-digested  plans  in  such  a  manner  as  to  af- 
ford them  a  reasonable  hope  of  satisf^'ing  their 
own  consciences,  and  the  just  expectation  of 
posterity."* 

The  eyes  of  all  Europe  were  at  this  time  fix- 
ed on  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
which  had  now  been  sitting  for  two  years,  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  reforming  the  Church. 
Great  expectations  were  raised  among  the  Ro- 
man Catholics,  that  the  measures  adopted  by 
the  Tridentine  fathers  would  bring  back  the 
Protestants  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church  ;  but  the 
feelings  and  designs  of  the  Roman  pontiff  were 
quite  in  opposition  to  this  expectation.  He  was 
resolved  to  make  no  concessions,  to  suffer  no 
innovation,  to  consent  to  no  change — the  Pro- 
testants were  doomed  to  be  duped — and  the  ad- 
vocates for  reform  in  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be 
disappointed. 

*  Soames'd  H'»*.  of  the  K  ©for  mat  ion,  vol.  iii.  p   51 


182  THE  CHUllCH  OF   EXGLAND 

The  Church  of  England  having  no  represen- 
tatives at  this  Council,  was  little  affected  by  the 
tardiness  of  its  proceedings.  The  directors  of 
her  restoration  were  not  to  be  diverted  from  the 
course  they  had  marked  out  for  themselves,  by 
the  impotent  denunciations  of  frantic  men — ra- 
ther were  they  the  more  resolved  that  their  own 
reformation  should  be  no  mocker}^,  and  that  the 
leaven  of  Popery  should  no  longer  work  in  the 
body  ecclesiastic  of  England. 

They  began,  therefore,  with  the  head  and 
front  of  offence — the  idolatry  of  the  Romish 
Church.  For  the  effectual  rooting  out  of  this 
corruption,  injunctions  were  issued  by  the  King's 
command,  enjoining  the  clergy  in  every  quarter 
to  preach  against  pilgrimages  and  image  icorship  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  ordering  that  "all  shrines,* 


*  The  offerings  made  at  the  shrines  of  saitits  were  of  the  most  ex- 
travagant kind,  anci  grossly  idolatrous.  At  Becket's  shrine,  in 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  was  offered  in  one  year  600Z. ;  while  oil 
the  altar  of  Christ  the  sum  did  not  exceed  2Z.  8s. ! ! !.  Becket's 
shrine  also  yearly  drew  together  thousands  of  pilgrims.  "  It  was 
built  about  a  man's  height,  all  of  stone,  then  upwards  of  timber, 
plain ;  within  which  was  a  chest  of  iron,  containing  the  saint's 
bones,  skull  and  al!,  with  the  wound  of  his  death,  and  the  piece 
of  his  skull  laid  in  the  same  wound.  The  timbei'-work  of  this 
shrine  on  tha  outside  was  covered  with  plates  of  gold,  damasked 
and  imbossed  v/ith  wires  of  gold,  ganiislied  with  brooches,  images, 
angels,  chains,  precious  stones,  and  great  orient  pearls." — Darfs 
Hist,  of  Cant.  Cath. 

"  They  drew  up  with  cards  a  chest  or  case  of  wood,  and  then 
there  was  seen  a  chest  or  coffin  of  gold,  and  inestimable  riches, 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  183 

with  their  coverings,  tables,  candlesticks,  trin- 
dills,  (or  rolls  of  wax,)  pictures,  and  other  mon- 
uments of  feigned  miracles,  were  to  be  taken 
away  and  destroyed,"  and  the  images  them- 
selves to  be  treated  in  the  same  way.  Pulpits 
were  also  to  be  provided,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  Creed,  and  Ten  Commandments,  were  to 
be  publicly  read  aloud  by  the  priest. 

The  people  in  many  parts  of  England  had  an- 
ticipated this  public  order  :  they  had  already 
commenced  the  work  of  demolition  ;  so  that  be- 
fore even  the  injunctions  were  issued,  many 
churches  had  delivered  themselves  fjom  the 
temptation  to  idolatry,  by  casting  out  their 
*'  carved  imaires." 

The  leaders  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party, 
and  especially  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
were  worked  up  to  a  state  of  anger  bordering 
on  madness,  by  a  measure  that  was  to  prove  so 
fatal  to  their  power.     That  bigoted   prelate  in 

Gold  was  the  meanest  thing  that  was  there.  It  shone  all  over, 
and  sparkled  and  glittered  with  jewels,  which  were  very  precious 
and  rare,  and  of  au  extraordinary  size:  some  of  them  were  big- 
ger than  a  goose's  egg.  The  prior  took  a  white  wand,  and  touch- 
ed every  jewel,  teUiug  what  it  was,  the  French  name,  the  value, 
and  the  donor  of  it ;  for  the  chief  of  them  were  gifts  of  monarchs." 
— Erasmus. 

Any  one  vveuld  imagine  he  was  i-eading  a  description  of  a 
toml)  in  som.'i  hindoo  temple  ;  yet  such  was  in  fact  a  Christian's 
shrine  in  a  Christian  church,  where  the  creature  monopolized  all 
the  hjuour,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Creator  ! ! !  and  where  more 
miracles  were  pretendetl  to  be  performed  by  the  saint';'  bone* 
than  ever  had  been  bv  tlie  Son  of  God  Himself  1 1 ! 


184        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

vain  endeavoured  to  stifle  the  spreading  flame, 
and  by  threats  on  the  one  hand,  poured  forth  on 
the  "image-breakers"  in  his  own  diocese,  and 
by  arguments  on  the  other,  addressed  in  more 
cautious  terms  to  Dr.  Ridley,  and  the  Protector 
Somerset,  he  hoped  to  persuade  men  that  pic- 
tures and  images  were  as  serviceable  as  books, 
and  that  there  was  no  more  harm  in  retaining 
them  in  the  churches,  than  there  was  in  any 
man's  "wearing  a  cross  about  his  neck,"  or  "the 
knights  of  the  garter  wearing  the  George."  And 
true  enough,  there  would  not  be,  except  f'»r  one 
plain  reason — that  the  former  are  objects  of  wor- 
ship, the  latter  of  mere  ornament  or  distinction* 
"Yea,"  exclaims  Foxe,  "but  what  knight  of  that 
order  kneeleth  or  prayeth  to  that  George  that 
hansfeth  about  his  neck  ?"* 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  public  feeling  at 
this  time  upon  this  darkest  point  of  Romish 
superstition.  The  people  were  panting  for  bet- 
ter information  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  ig- 
norance of  some  of  the  clergy,  and  the  obstinate 
bigotry  of  others,  they  must  have  long  before 
burst  from  that  spiritual  thraldom  in  which  they 
had  for  so  manv  centuries  been  held.  The  wise 
and  sagacious  Cranmer,  with  the  design  of 
meeiiniy  the  difficulties,  and  remedying^  the  de- 
fects  of  the  times,  charged  himself  with  the  com- 

•  Foxe.  1227. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  185 

posing  of  twelve  homilies,  which  he  soon  after- 
wards published,  to  the  great  comfort  and  help 
of  every  sincere  Protestant,  but  to  the  evident 
vexation  and  chagrin  of  Gardiner  and  the  pa- 
pists ;  for  the  subjects  of  these  homilies  were 
just  such  as  were  required  for  the  advancment 
of  scriptural  truth.  We  may  particularly  men- 
tion the  homilies  on  human  depravity,  on  justifica- 
tion hy  faith,  on  good  works,  and  on  the  great  prac- 
tical duties  oj  Christianity,  But  the  most  impor- 
tant of  them  all  was  that  on  the  necessity  of  read- 
ing   the    Scriptures,  being    the  great  "  stone  of 

stumbling  and  rock  of  offence,"  on  which  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  always  foundered.  In  this 
admirable  discourse  is  pointed  out,  in  plain  but 
forcible  language,  the  danger  of  giving  heed  to 
the  pretended  traditions  of  men,  rather  than  to 
the  unadulterated  word  of  God.  Yes,  "let  us 
diligently  search  for  the  well  of  life  in  the  books 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and  not  run  to 
the  stinking  puddles  of  men's  traditions,  devised 
by  men's  imaginations,  for  our  justification  and 
salvation.  For  in  Holy  Scripture  is  fully  con- 
tained what  we  ought  to  do,  and  what  to  es- 
chew, what  to  believe,  what  to  love,  and  what 
to  look  for  at  God's  hands  at  length."* 

For   the  further    enlightening    of  the    public 
mind,  an  injunction  was  issued  that  every  par- 

"  Homilv  I. 


186         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

ish  should  forthwith  provide  itself  with  a  Bible, 
and  a  copy  of  so  much  of  Erasmus's  Paraphrase 
of  the  New  Testament  as  had  at  that  time 
1548.  been  translated  into  English  ;  and  in  the 
following  year  the  archbishop  authorized 
the  publication  of  a  German  Catechism,  or  rather 
an  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
the  Ten  Commandments,  which  under  his  di- 
rection had  now  assumed  an  English  dress,  and 
was  industriously  circulated  throughout  the  land. 

The  necessary  consequence  of  the  light  that 
was  now  imparted,  was  a  growing  spirit  of  in- 
quiry. Men  were  no  longer  disposed  to  submit 
their  judgment  in  spiritual  matters  to  blind  and 
crafty  guides.  They  began  to  think  and  to  act 
for  themselves,  and  to  examine,  with  unsparing 
diligence,  all  the  several  essential  points  of  Ro- 
man Catholic  belief.  But  to  no  point  was  the 
public  attention  more  closely  directed  than  to 
the  subject  oi  the  mass.''''* 

King  Henry  had  directed,  by  his  will,  that 

*  Thf3  ••  ]Ma33"  is  the  Coramuiiion  Service,  ox  Consecration  and 
Administration  of  the  Sacrament.  "  High  Mass"  is  the  same  ser- 
vice, accompanied  by  all  the  ceremonies  which  custom  and  au- 
thority have  annexed  to  its  celebration.  In  the  eaiiy  ages  of  the 
Church  the  congregation  was  dismissed  before  the  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  none  but  the  communicants  being  suffered  lo 
remain,  according  to  the  dicipline  of  the  secret.  "  Ita  missa  est," 
said  the  officiating  minister,  and  immediately  the  people  withdrew. 
The  term  thus  employed  was  used  in  process  of  time  to  designate 
the  solemn  service  about  to  be  performed.  It  was  called  *'  Missa," 
the  Mass.— Cramp's  Text  Book,  p.  9.r,2. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  187 

perpetual  masses  for  his  soul  should  be  celebrat- 
ed ;  but  what  was  at  one  tiaie  cousidered  by 
the  people  to  be  a  religious  obligation  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  faith,  was  no  longer  so  esteemed.  The 
question  was  now  in  every  one's  mouth,  "  Are 
masses  for  the  dead  authorized  by  Scripture?" 
The  very  inquiry  led  to  great  practical  good  ; 
for  towards  the  close  of  the  year  a  royal  com- 
mission was  issued  to  certain  prelates  and  learn- 
ed divines,  commanding  them,  agreeably  to  a 
recent  Act  of  Parliament,  to  examine  the  subject 
of  the  Miss,  and  to  prepare  a  new  and  uniform 
mode  of  administering  the  Holy  Communion  in 
both  kinds. 

The  commissioners  commenced  their  labours 
with  the  most  praiseworthy  caution  and  discre- 
tion. They  first  established  the  scriptural  prin- 
ciple, that  the  sacrament  was  ordained  of  Christ 
to  be  received,  "  not  of  one  man  for  another,  but 
of  every  man  for  himself;"  that  in  the  mass 
there  is  properly  no  oblation  of  Christ,  he  hav- 
ing been  once  only  offered  on  the  cross  ;  and  that 
the  rite  is  simply  rejjrcsentative  and  commemora- 
tive, not  inopitiatcry — thfit  it  consists  wholly  in 
such  things  as  are  mentioned  in  those  passages 
of  Scripture  which  relate  to  the  Eucharist,  such 
as  we  read  in  ]M[itthew  xxvi.  Mark  xiv.  Luke 
xxii.  1  Cor.  x.  xi.  and  Acts  of  Apostles  ii. — that 
"  solitary  masses  "  are  contrary  to  Scripture  and 
primitive   practice — that   the   people,  therefore, 


188         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

should  receive  the  sacrament  with  the  pnest — 
that  "  masses  satisfactorv"  for  departed  souls 
are  equally  opposed  to  Scripture,  because  Christ 
is  the  only  saJuf action  for  all  sin.  (Vide  Heb.  ix. 
12,  and  X.  10.)  It  was  likewise  ordered  that  the 
Mass  should  no  longer  be  celebrated  in  the  Latin 
tongue,  and  that  the  reservation  and  hanging  up 
of  the  Host  was  to  be  considered  an  invention  of 
comparatively  modern  date. 

These  points  having  been  established  on  scrip- 
tural grounds,  the  commissioners  next  proceeded 
to  arrange  the  office  of  the  communion. 

The  groundwork  of  this  office  was  the  Ro- 
man missal,  a  form  that  is  generally  believed  to 
have  been  compiled  by  Gregory  the  Great,  in 
the  sixth  century,  though  subsequently,  like  every 
other  office  in  the  Romish  Church,  adulterated 
and  debased  by  interpolations  and  rubrics,  en- 
joining those  "  bowings,  crossings,  kissings,  fin- 
gerwashings,  and  other  pantomimic  grimaces, 
which  to  the  Protestant  are  so  truly  frivolous, 
superstitious,  and  revolting." 

Yet  in  this  service  are  still  to  be  traced  some 
remnants  of  primitive  and  wholesome  practice. 
The  ancient  Church,  in  her  purer  day,  divided 
her  mass  into  two  parts — the  }>lass  of  the  Cate- 
chumens, and  the  Ma.iS  of  the  Faithful,  The  Cat- 
echumens, who  were  persons  under  instruction 
previous  to  baptism,  were  not  permitted  to  be 
present  at  the  Communion.     Accordingly,  when 


NOT    A   NEW  CHURCH.  1S9 

that  part  of  the  Church  service  was  finished, 
preparatory-  to  the  faithful  partaking  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  a  deacon  proclainaed  aloud,  "  Tho-e 
who  are  Catechumens,  go  out !"  Then  com- 
menced the  Communion  of  the  Faithful.  In 
the  Roman  mass  all  that  part  which  reached  to 
the  offertory  corresponds  with  the  primitive  Mass 
of  the  Catechumens  ;  the  rest  of  the  service  to 
the  Mass  of  the  Faithful. 

The  first  part  of  the  Roman  Mass  contains, 
amongst  other  matters,  a  general  confession  of 
his  own  sins,  made  by  the  priest,  not  to  God 
alone,  but  to  the  archangel  Michael,  to  the  Virgin 
Marv,  to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  Apostles,  to 
all  the  other  dead  persons  indiscriminately,  who 
have  been  canonized  at  Rome,  and  to  the  con- 
gregation present.  He,  the  priest,  then  concludes 
this  service,  by  desiring  the  prayers  of  the 
above  persons.  There  is  also  a  prayer  fnr  the 
priest's  own  pardon  throughthe  merits  ff  the  saints.* 
The  Mass  for  the  Faithful,  commencing  at  the 
offertory,  contains  sundry  very  exceptionable 
pravers,  which  are  comparatively  of  modern  in- 
troduction ;  also  some  short  devotional  pieces, 
one  of  which  is  trulv  shocking  to  the  pious  wor- 
shippers of  the  incarnate  God:  it  is  as  follows  : 
— "  Mav  the  Lord  receive  this  sacrifice  from  thy 

*  Th's  nrayer  is  nm"tted  in  the  BreW  irv  whc'i  wa?  rablished 
in  Queeu  Mar.'s  reign,  as  being  too  olTenaive  to  the  Protestants. 
—Vide  Soames's  Hist.  Ref.  vol.  v.  p.  253. 


190        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

hands  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  his  own  name, 
for  our  benefit,  and  that  of  all  his  holy  Church!'* 

But  in  the  Breviary  itself  there  is  a  prayer 
that  strikes  at  the  very  root  of  Christ's  mediato- 
rial office, — "  May  the  intercession,  we  beseech 
Thee,  O  Lord,  o'i  Bishop  Peter,  thy  apostle,  ren- 
der the  prayers  and  offerings  of  thy  Church  ac- 
ceptable to  Thee  ;  that  the  mysteries  we  cele- 
brate mills  honour  may  ohtainfor  us  the  pardon  of 
our  sins  /" 

The  next  part  of  the  service  of  the  Mass  is 
the  preface,  which  is  still  retained  in  the  English 
Communion  office,  beginning  with  "Lift  up  your 
hearts,"  and  ending  at  "  Glory  be  to  Thee,  O 
Lord  most  high."  Then  follows  the  Canon  of 
the  Mass,  or  prayers  of  consecration,  which  are 
always  read  by  the  priests  in  a  very  low  voice. 
These  prayers  are  of  considerable  antiquity,  a 
circumstance  that  greatly  militates  against  the 
Romish  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  ;  as  it  is 
most  worthy  of  remark,  that  they  do  not,  in  di- 
rect terms,  acknowledge  that  doctrine  more  than 
they  do  those  other  innovations  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church — the  invocation  of  saints,  pur- 
gatory, solitar}^  masses,  «&c.,  which  have  been 
grafted  upon  that  Church  by  the  second  council 
of  Nice,  and  the  fourth  Lateran  Council,  as  well 
as  by  those  of  Florence  and  Trent.  So  that  the 
Romish  Church  stands  condemned  by  her  own 
ancienttestimony — a  testimony  too,  be  it  remem- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  191 

bered,  which,  with  relation  to  the  Canon  of  the 
Mass,  was  pronounced  by  the  Tridentine  Fa- 
thers to  be  "  ivithout  any  error,''''^ 

Such,  then,  were  the  materials  out  of  which 
the  Reformers  constructed  their  first  communion 
office  in  substitution  for  the  mass,  retaining  all 
that  was  good  and  unexceptionable,  but  reject- 
ing much  that  was  grossly  profane  and  idola- 
trous. In  the  arrangement  of  the  decalogue, 
moreover,  the  second  commandment,  which  the 
Roman  Catholics  lind  so  troublesome,  was  now 
given  in  its  entire  and  unmutilated  form,  as  it 
was  written  by  the  finger  of  God. 

This  office  beino:  at  last  arrans^ed, 
was  publicly  set  forth  on  the  8th  March,  1548. 
1648,  by  a  royal  proclamation,  wherein 
the  people  were  required  to  "  receive  it  with  due 
reverence,  and  with  such  uniformity  as  might 
encourage  the  King  to  go  on  in  the  setting  forth 
godly  orders  for  reformation,  which  he  intended 
now  earnestly  to  bring  to  effect,  Ijy  the  help  of 
(.•od."t 

This  office,  three  3^ears  afterwards,  under- 
went a  minute  revision  by  the  hands  of  Bucer, 
who  expurgated  some  Romish  leaven  that  still 
offended  the  friends  of  the  Reformation,  and  re- 
produced it  in  nearty  the  very  form  in  which 
we  now  receive  it. 

*  "  Ab  omiii  errore  purum."  Vide  cap.  iv.  cle  Canone  Missfr. 
f  Bnrnptt'«  Hist,  nf  tbf>  Rpfonnrition.  p.  131.  fo\  o(\\*. 


192        THE  CHURCH  OF  EXOLAXD 

The  Reformers,  however,  by  thus  beginning 
with  the  communion  office,  were  bv  no  means 
insensible  to  the  still  further  need  of  revising 
and  correcting  all  the  offices  of  the  Church.  Hav- 
ing, therefore,  disposed  of  this  important  part, 
thej  now  turned  their  attention  to  the  liturgies 
of  the  Church.  "  In  order  to  this,  they  brought 
together,"  says  Burnett,  "  all  the  offices  used  in 
England."  These  were  of  great  variety,  and  of 
high  antiquity,  derived  partly  from  apostolic  use 
and  partly  from  the  times  of  the  earl}^  fathers. 
The  ancient  British  Church  received  her  first 
liturgy  from  the  Galilean  Church  in  the  fifth 
century,  by  the  hands  of  Germanus  and  Lupus, 
when  they  came  over,  as  has  been  already 
shown,  to  deliver  the  British  nation  from  the  er- 
rors of  Pelagianism.  This  liturgy  closely  re- 
sembled that  of  the  Church  of  England  of  the 
present  day,  for  it  prescribed  for  the  morning 
service  lessons  taken  from  the  Scriptures,  psalms 
and  hvmns,  each  concludino^  with  the  Gloria 
Patri,  and  an  interval  of  silence,  during  which 
the  conofregation  were  to  offer  up  in  secret  their 
particular  prayers,  and  a  collect,  or  general 
prayer.*  The  silent  prayers  of  ancient  times 
were  retained  bv  our  Reformers,  bv  means  of 
the  biddings  or  enumeration  of  persons  and 
things  to  be  prayed  for,  enjoined  before  sermons, 

•  Stillinsfleet's  Orig.  Brit.  p.  223. 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  193 

as  still  used  in  our  universities.  Under  the  Ro- 
mish system,  hvmns  consistinsj  of  the  most  des- 
picable  monkish  rln'mes,  and  short  anthems, 
termed  resjwnds,  were  sung  after  reading  only  a 
few  verses  from  Scripture,  whereby  the  spirit  of 
devotion  was  continually  interrupted.  All  this 
trash  was  now  rejected,  and  a  prominent  place 
was  given  to  Scripture  selections — a  most  im- 
portant restoration  of  the  ancient  usage,  which  Au- 
gustin  found  already  established  among  the  Brit- 
ish Christians,  when  he  came  over  to  convert 
the  Saxons,  and  which,  by  the  command  of 
Gregorv,  he  did  not  venture  to  supersede  by  the 
inti-oduction  of  the  Roman  office.  In  process  of 
time,  however,  when  the  Saxon  became  the'as- 
cendant  party  in  the  State,  the  Roman  form 
gradually  became  the  groundwork  of  the  British. 
Still,  uniformity,  in  the  several  offices,  was  out 
of  the  question,  and  appears  to  have  been  litde 
regarded,  if  we  may  judge  by  their  variety — for 
there  were  the  offices  of  Sarum,  of  York,  of  Lin- 
coln, Banoor,  and  Hereford. 

In  examining  these  several  offices,  the  Re- 
formers discovered  a  vast  accumulation  of  su- 
perstition in  them  all.  The  forms  for  the  cele- 
bration of  baptism  and  the  eucharist  were  the 
most  coriupted  of  any.  '•  The  consecrations  of 
water,  salt,  bread,  incense,  candles,  fire,  bells, 
churches,  images,  altars,  crosses,  vessels,  gar- 
ments, palms,  and   flowers,  all  looked  like  the 

11 


194        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

rites  of  heathenism,  and  seemed  to  spring  from 
the  same  fountain."* 

Great  also  was  tlie  corruption  of  the  Roman 
offices  in  the  power  pretended  by  the  priest,  of 
grantwg  absolution  to  the  living  and  the  dead, 
whereby  tlie  common  people  were  necessarily 
persuaded  that  "  tliere  was  a  trick  for  saving 
souls,  besides  that  plain  method  which  Christ  had 
taught."t  On  the  subject  of  confession,  likewise, 
the  Romish  practice  was  widely  different  from 
primitive  usage — for  in  the  ancient  Gallican  of- 
fice there  was  a  general  confession  of  sin  made  to 
God  alone — but  of  confession  to  saints  and  angels, 
there  was  not  a  trace  to  be  found. 

With  the  full  knowledge  of  these  and  simi- 
lar  corruptions  in  the  offices  then  in  use,  the  Re- 
formers  set  their  hands  heartily  to  the  work  of 
compilation  and  restoration,  resolved  to  "retain 
such  things  as  the  primitive  church  had  prac- 
tised, but  cuttino"  off  such  abuses  as  the  latter 
ages  had  grafted  on  them." 

Thev  ])eoan  Vvith  the  mornino-  a.nd  evening 
service,  and  took  for  their  groundwork  the  an- 
cient hturgies  of  which  we  have  already  spoken, 
the  Roman  Catholic  breviar}^,  and  the  liturgy 
that  Bucer  and  Mclancthon  drew  up  for  the  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne.  Out  of  these  they  compiled 
the  tvv^o  services  in  the  form  in  which  we  nov/ 

*   Burnett's  Hist,  of  the  Hcfoi'inalion,  fol.  r.  13G. 
t    Ibid.  p.  137. 


^ 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  l95 

find  ihem,  excepting  that  they  contained  neither 
the  introductory  sentences,  the  exhortation,  con- 
fession, nor  absolution.  They  commenced  at 
once  with  the  Lord's  Praver.  In  these  services, 
as  well  as  in  each  of  the  others,  the  rule  was 
rigidly  adhered  to,  of  discarding  everything  that 
savoured  of  superstition,  and  of  admitting  noth- 
ing that  had  not  the  warranty  of  Scripture. 
"  Prayers  to  the  saints  were  expunged,  and  all 
their  lying  legends."*  And  to  "  the  new  work 
were  transferred  those  features  only  of  its  imme- 
mediate  predecessors,  which  are  among  the  ven- 
erable remains  of  the  ancient  Latin  Church. "t 

As  in  the  instance  of  the  communion  service, 
so  also  in  the  other  offices  of  the  Church,  the 
revisino^  and  correcting:  hand  of  those  foreign  di- 
vines  who  were  at  the  time  in  En2:land,  was  af- 
terwards  emplo^'^ed  in  rendering  the  work  still 
more  complete — for  by  their  suggestion  the  in- 
troductor}^  sentences,  the  exhortation  and  con- 
fession, were  avided — and  the  absolution,  bor* 
rowed  from  Calvin's  Liturg}^,  but  really  com- 
posed by  its  editor  Valerandus  PoUanus,  was  for 
the  first  tmie  subjoiiied,  some  of  its  harsher  ex- 
pressions Ijeing  suppressed  or  (jualified. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  those  wlio  are  the  most 
conversant  with  the  subject,  that  the  morning 
service  consists  of  two  others  now  united  : — viz. 

*  SoiulK'y'.s  Book  of  tlu"  Ciiurch,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 

t  Soauica'a  ilioL.  ul'  iliu  Rtirui'matiou,  vui.  iii.  p.  369. 


196  l-HE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAXD 

the  morning  prayer,  as  one — the  litany  and  com- 
munion, as  the  other — the  former  taking  the  place 
of  the  Romish  matins,  the  latter  of  high  mass. 
The  litany,  as  we  now  find  it,  subsequently  un- 
derwent but  little  change  :  it,  however,  con- 
tained one  suffrage  which^was  afterwards  omit- 
ted, as  harsh  and  superfluous  :  "  From  the  tyr- 
anny of  the  Bishop  of  R^me,  and  all  his  detes- 
table enormities,  good  Lord  deliver  us  !" 

The  burial  service,  as  then  arranged,  was 
nearly  the  same  as  it  is  at  present.  The  spirit 
of  the  departed  was,  indeed,  commended  to 
God's  merc}^ ;  but  then  the  minister  was  direct- 
ed to  sa}^  in  another  place,  "  We  trust  thou  hast 
brought  his  soul,  which  he  committed  into  thy 
holy  hands,  into  sure  consolation  and  rest," — 
words  which  most  pointectfy  are  opposed  to  the 
doctrine  of  purgatory.         i^^ 

The  labours  of  the  liturgical  commissioners 
were  now  completed,  and  thus  was  at  length 
produced  that  "  excellent  form  of  sound  words," 
"  the  Book  of  Common  Pra3^er,  and  offices  of 
the  Church  of  England,"  gathered  with  the  great- 
est caution  from  the  ancient  liturgies,  and  from 
the  Romish  formularies  as  well,  in  which  the 
Reformers  retained  the  "  solid  gold  "  of  antiqui- 
t}',  and  discarded  only  "  the  vile  tinsel  "  with 
which  the}^  had  been  overlaid  in  modern  times, 
"  of  ridiculous  and  idolatrous  rubrics,  appeals  to 
the  dead,  the  mention  of  human  merit,  and  lying 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  197 

leofpnds."*  And  thus  also  was  restored  toEnsf- 
land  a  form  of  divine  worship,  as  nearly  resem- 
bling that  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  British 
Church  of  old,  as  was  thouGfht  to  be  compatible 
with  the  taste,  and  feeling,  and  prejudice  of  the 
age. 

On  the  15th  January,  1549,  this  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  was,  by  an  act  of  the  1549. 
Leoislature,  for  the  uniformity  of  the 
church  service,  publicly  enjoined  on  the  clergy 
and  people,  to  be  used  by  them  throughout  Eng- 
land in  their  own  lano[ua2:e.  The  two  universi- 
ties  were  permitted  to  use  it,  the  communion 
service  being  alone  excepted,  in  Latin  or  Greek. 
This  act  also  contained  a  clause,  leaalizino;  the 
use  of  psalms  and  prayers  taken  out  of  the  Bii)le, 
provided  none  in  thi^  book  ^vere  omitted.  This 
proviso  "  was  for  the  singing  psalms,  which  were 
translated  into  verse, "and,  much  sung  by  all  who 
loved  the  Reformation,  were  in  man}^  places  used 
in  churches. "t  No  En2:lish  version  of  sinoino- 
psahns  appears  to  have  been  in  use  before  the 
end  of  Henry's  reign — but  in  1549  we  find  two 
attempts  made  to  reduce  them  to  something  like 
Enghsh  rhythm — tlie  first  by  Sir  Thomas  W}^- 
att,  and  the  next  by  Sternhold,  whoso  original 
collection  of  fifty-one  psalms  forms  the  basis  of 

*  Soames's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol   iii.  p.  369. 
t  Burnett's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  fol.  p.  152. 


198         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

th  -t  which  is  still  in  use  under  the  name  of  the 
Old  Version. 

The  new  liturgy,  though  its  adoption  was  not 
compulsory  before  Whitsunday,  was  j^et  in  gene- 
ral use  on  Easter-day,  when  the  people  heard, 
for  the  first  time  in  their  own  tongue,  the  intelli- 
gible language  of  prayer  and  praise. 

There  were  among  the  clergy,  however, 
many  who  could  not  or  would  not  give  up  their 
old  practices  ;  they  contrived  to  evade  the  law, 
by  chantins:  or  mutterino  the  service — bv  innu- 
merable  crossings,  kissings  of  the  altar,  breath- 
ing on  the  bread,  and  other  like  al)surdities. 
Thev  ev  n  converted  the  new  communion  ser- 
vice  into  a  soul  mass,  and  thus  continued  to 
make  a  base  profit  of  the  purgatorial  doctrine. 

To  counteract  ihese  shameful  evasions  and 
abuses,  a  royal  visitation  was  commanded,  and 
very  strict  regulations  promulgated  against  even 
the  very  name  of  the  mass  :  it  was  also  ordered 
that  the  muttering  of  prayers  over  beads  should 
no  longer  be  tolerated — that  the  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatory and  of  the  invocation  of  saints,  should  no 
more  be  admitted — that  bead-rolls,  relics,  ima- 
ges, lights,  holy  bells,  palms,  ashes,  candles, 
creeping  to  the  cross,  oil,  chrism,  altars,  agnus 
dei,*  and  other  such  vain  superstitions,  should 
be  forever  abolished — and  thattlie  clers^v  should 

*  Au  Agnus  Dei  is   made  of  wax,  balsam,  and  chrism,  and 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  199 

no  longer  reserve  and  carry  the  sacrament  to 
sick  persons  with  candles  and  bells.  The  visi- 
tors appointed  for  the  suppression  of  these  "  fool- 
eries "  were  likewise  specially  commanded  to 
put  down  all  those  gross  abuses  which  at  tliis 
time  prevailed  in  churches  and  churchyards, 
"wherein,  even  during  divine  service,  markets 
were  held,  and  bargains  openly  made.* 

The  visitors,  on  concluding  their  mission, 
made  a  favourable  report  \vith  respect  to  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation  among  the  people, 
having  occasion  to  present  but  one  case  of  open 
defiance,  which  was  that  of  the  Princess  Mary, 
w^ho  persisted  in  her  practice  of  having  the  mass 
said  in  her  own  house.  The  council  commanded 
her  to  conform  to  the  established  order  of  public 
worship  ;  but  this  cominand  she  refused  to  obey, 
and  indignantly  appealed  to  the  Emperor,  her 
cousin,  for  protection.  The  council,  rather  than 
brino  matters  to  an  extremitv,left  her  unmolested. 

Her   emissaries,    however,     and    the 
popish  faction  generally,  still  exerted  a    1549. 
powerful  and   baneful  influence    in  ma- 
ny   parts    of   the  country,    and    succeeded    in 
driving   the    peasantry,  in  many   of  the  south- 
ern   and    western    counties,   into   open    revolt. 

has  stamped  on  it  the  image  of  the  Lamb  of  God.     It  is  conse- 
crated by  the  i)ope3  in  the  first  and  eveiy  seventh  year  of  their 
potificate,  and  worn  as  a  sort  of  amulet. 
*  Boi-nett,  p.  153. 


200        THE  CHURCH  OF  EXGLAXD 

In  Devonshire,  where  the  people  were  "  gen- 
erally inclined  to  the  former  superstition,"* 
as  also  in  Cornwall,  the  revolt  of  these  deluded 
persons  began  to  assume  a  formidable  character. 
The  sti-u2:£rle  for  which  thevbe^anto  arm  them- 
selves  was  looked  upon  as  a  religious  crusade, 
in  which  they  were  called  upon  to  maintain 
their  faith  against  the  "  accursed  heretics."  Ac- 
cordingly, *•  crosses  and  candlesticks,  bread  and 
salted  water,"  "  the  pix,  with  its  included  wafer 
under  a  canopy  in  a  cart,  attended  the  move- 
ments of  these  infatuated  insurgents, "t  who 
were  led  from  the  western  parts  by  Humphrey 
Arundel,  a  Cornish  gentleman  of  good  family, 
but  of  a  rash  and  obstinate  disposition.  Lord 
John  Russei  was  despatched  against  them,  and 
on  arriving  at  Honiton,  and  findins:  the  rebels 
too  Strong  for  him  to  attack,  entered  into  a  ne- 
gotiation. Arundel,  however,  refused  to  lay 
down  his  arms,  unless  his  demands,  consi^rtins: 
of  eight  articles,  were  first  conceded.  These 
articles  embraced  all  those  leading  corruptions 
of  the  Romish  Church  which  the  Reformers  had 
been  taking  so  much  pains  to  remove  ;  and  more- 
over embraced  the  re-enactment  of  the  Six  Arti- 
cles, commonly  called  "  the  Bloody  Act."  On 
the  rejection  of  these  terms  the  insurgents  laid 
siege  to  Exeter,  and  from  the  supineness  of  their 

*  Burnett's  Hist  of  the  Reformation,  p.  168.     i  Foxe,  1190. 


XOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  201 

enemies,  now  rose  in  their  demands,  insisting 
on  the  acceptance  of  seven  addirionalj  articles. 
Lord  Russel  having  obtained  reinforcements,  at- 
tacked them  at  Fennington  Bridge  defeated  them, 
and  on  their  rallying  again  on  Clyst  Heath,  rout- 
ed them  Wi  h  great  slaughter.*  Arundel  and 
nine  rebellious  priests,  were  taken  and  execu- 
ted, and  the  insurrection  generally  put  down 
throughout  the  west  and  north  of  Enorland.t 

These  rebellious  movements  were  without 
doubt  fomented,  if  not  effected  by  the  popish  fac- 
tion, whose  leadinof  men  were  now  universallv 
become  objects  of  the  greatest  mistrust.  But  no 
one  gave  greater  cause  for  suspicion  than  Bon- 
ner, Bishop  of  London,  one  of  the  most  cruel, 
crafty,  and  bigoted  prelates  that  ever  disgraced 
the  name  of  Christianity.  Outwardlv  he  pre- 
tended to  conform  to  the  new  order  of  thinos, 
while  all  the  time  he  was  secretlv  encourasrin?, 
b}'  every  means  in  his  power,  those  verv  cor- 
ruptions and  abominations  which  the  Reformers 
had  swept  from  the  Church.  The  council  were 
not  to  be  deceived  by  appearances :  thev  sum- 
moned the  mitred  hypocrite  before  them — or- 
dered him  to  preach  at  Paul's  Cross — to  admin- 
ter  the  communion  at  all  such  times  as  mass 
was  wont  to  be  celebrated — to  inculcate  submis- 
sion to  his  sovereign,  though  a  minor — and  to  be 


*  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist.  397.         t  Strype's  Ed.  Mem.  ii.  231. 

11* 


202        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

V  e  ]*y  c  n  r e  f u  1  o  f  m  n  i  n  t  n  i  n  i  n  g  the  d  u  e  (^h  ?  e  r  \'  n  n  c  e 
of  order  and  discipline  among  the  clergy  ol"  his 
diocese. 

With  regard  to  the  subject  matter  of  his  ser- 
mon, he  was  commanded  to  set  forth  tlie  wick- 
edness of  rebellion,  and  the  superiority  of  prac- 
tical holiness  to  the  vain  rites*and  ridiculous  ce- 
remonies of  religion.  Bonner  accordingly  ad- 
dressed the  people,  but  in  a  very  vague  manner, 
on  the  subject  of  rebellion,  most  crafiily  avoided 
the  other  subject  altogether,  and  introduced  a 
vehement  defence  ofthe  exploded  doctrine  oftran- 
substantiation.  Among  his  hearers  were  Hoop- 
er and  Latimer — the  former  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Gloucester — the  latter  Bishop  of  Vv'orcester. 
On  hearing  the  sermon,  these  illustrious  divines 
at  once  denounced  the  preacher  to  the  king  in 
council.  The  bishop  was  summoned  before  a 
com m i s s ion ,  c o m po s e d  o f  t h e  p ri m a te  (C ran m e r) , 
Bishop  Ridley,  and  five  others.  On  appearing 
before  them,  the  insolence  and  levity  of  Bonner 
were  almost  incredible,  and  exhibited  him  in 
a  character  so  truly  contemptible,  that  we  should 
have  been  disposed  to  have  pitied  the  man,  had 
not  his  subsequent  brutality,  during  the  Marian 
persecution,  compelled  us  to  abhor  the  prelate. 
The  contempt  he  at  iirst  showed  for  the  court 
obliged  them  to  commit  him  l()r  some  time  to  the 
Mcr  h.ilsea  prison;  out  so  far  was  he  from  be- 
ing subdued  by  this  correction,  that  as  the  inqui- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  203 

ry  proceeded,  he  the  more  increased  in  insolence 
and  vulgarity. 

After  a  most  patient  investigation,  and  a  de- 
fence on  his  part  which  savoured  more  of  invec- 
tive than  argument,  the  commissioners  deprived 
him  of  his  bishoj^ric,  and  recommitted  him  to 
prison,  W"here  his  behaviour  discovered  no  one 
trait  that  was  worthy  either  of  a  subject  or  of  a 
Cliristian  bishop.* 

The  fall  of  Bonner  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the 
Romanists,    but    was   shortly   after    more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  successful  intrigue  that 
led  to  the  disgrace   and  ruin  of  the  Protector 
Somerset — a  man  who,  with  all  his  faults,  was 
ever  a  firm  and  devoted  friend  of  the  Reforma- 
tion.    But  his  crimes,  if  they  could  be  so  called, 
(for  the   most  his  enemies   could   allege  against 
him  was  an  undue  "  greediness  of  popularit}^," 
that  led  him  occasionally  to   exceed  the  law,) 
were  eagerly  caught  at  and  magnified  by  his  op- 
ponents, and   his  downfall  was  hailed  by  them 
with  the  utmost  exultation,  as  the  forerunner  of 
the  immediate  restoration  of  the  popish  religion. 
The  Earl  of  Warwick,  his  successor,  was 
supposed  to  be  friendly  to  their  cause,  and  was 
immediately  addressed  b}^  Bonner  and  Gardiner, 
the  two  deposed  bishops,  with  the  full  persua- 

*  Burnett  calls  Inma"  brufish  and  blcody  "  ^'fierce  and  cruel 
man.'' 


204        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

sion  that  they  might  reckon  on  his  support.  But 
Warwick  was  too  war}^  a  pohticianto  take  a  sin- 
gle step  that  would  be  displeasing  to  the  young 
king,  whose  whole  heart  he  knew"  was  engaged  in 
the  cause  of  the  reformation.  He,  therefore,  with- 
out hesitation,  rejected  their  appeal,  renounced 
the  popish  part}^,  and  entered  warmly  into  the 
further  progress  of  the  Church's  renovation. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  cause 
1549.  of  the  Reformation  was  nearly  overpower- 
ed in  Germany.  By  the  artifice  of  the  Em- 
peror Charles,  the  Diet  held  at  Augsburg  had 
sanctioned  a  plan  of  his,  called  the  "  Interim," 
for  allaying  the  religious  heats  of  the  empire,  until 
such  time  as  they  could  be  settled  by  a  General 
Council.  This  plan,  which  was  nothing  less 
than  the  restoration  of  Popery  in  all  its  deformi- 
t}^  was  nobly  rejected  by  the  Elector  of  Saxon}" ; 
but  unhappily,  so  great  was  the  power  and  se- 
verity of  the  Emperor,  that  he  bore  down  for  a 
time  all  opposition. 

The  leaders  of  the  Protestant  part}^  despair- 
ing of  their  cause,  naturally  turned  towards  Eng- 
land, and  on  her  friendly  shore  sought  that 
protection  which  was  denied  them  in  Germany. 
Accordingly,  at  the  invitation  of  Cranmer,  Mar- 
tin Bucer,  and  Paul  Fagius,  Peter  Alexander, 
Bernardin  Ochin,  Peter  Martyr,  and  others, 
found  an  asylum  under  the  hospitable  roof  of 
the  Primate.     Soon   after  their  arrival,    Bucer 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  205 

was   advanced  to  the   divinity  chair  at   Cam- 
bridge, and  Peter  Martyr  to  that  of  Oxford. 

The  latter  appointment  occasioned  warm  and 
violent  disputations  in  that  university,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  tran substantiation,  the  corner-stone  of  the 
papal  system,  in  which  the  Florentine  Professor 
mainlained  most  triumphantly,  agamstDr.  Wm. 
Tresham,  the  three  following  propositions  : — 

I.  That  the  Eucharist  is  no  Transubstantia- 
tion. 

II.  That  the  bodv  and  blood  of  Christ  are 
not  present  under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine. 

III.  That  the  body  and  blood  are  united  to 
the  elements  sacramentally. 

Dr.  Tresham  was  undoubtedl}^  an  erudite 
scholar,  and  able  disputant ;  but  he  did  not  ac- 
quit himself  on  this  occasion  to  the  satisfaction 
of  either  himself  or  his  party,  as  ma}^  be  gather- 
ed from  the  scurrilous  abuse*  that  he  poured  out 
on  the  professsor,  after  the  discussion  was  con- 
cluded, and  more  particularly  by  the  mean  at- 
tempt he  made  to  bolster  up  his  weak  and  in- 
conclusive arguments  by  the  publication  of  ad- 
ditional matter.  "  He  confesses  he  has  added  some 
stipplcmeiifal  passages  which  sUpijed  his  memorij  in 
the  disputation^  and  lie  hopes  it  is  defcns/hle  enough 


■■*  "  Senex  quidam  delirus  est,  subversus,  impntlens,  er- 
roriira  raagister  iusignis.  PetiU3  IMartyr  Vermilius,"  vfcc.  Epis^t. 
Tresham. 


206         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLANL 

to  make  use  of  recollection,   and  fortify  the  argic- 
ment.^''^ 

Martin  Bucer  also,  from  his  divinity  chair, 
was  not  behindhand  in  stoutly  maintaining  the 
Protestant  cause  against  the  Romanists,  and  ar- 
gued, with  equal  success,  the  following  points, 
viz  : — the  sufficiency  of  the  canonical  boohs  of  Scrip- 
ture fo?'  teaching  all  things  necessary  to  salvation — 
the  liability  of  every  Church  to  err  in  matters  of  faith 
andpractice — and  the  efficacy  of  faith  alone  for  man's 
justification. 

While  the  public  attention  was  thus  drawn 
to  these  discussions,  a,nd  the  light  of  scriptural 
Christianity  was  already  dissipating  the  yet  lin- 
gering clouds  of  popish  superstition,  the  Refor- 
mation was  still  progressive,  and  many  import- 
ant points  continued  to  engage  the  anxious  con- 
sideration of  its  English  friends.  The  fall  of  the 
protector  Somerset,  who  had  been  so  instrument- 
al in  settling  the  restored  service,  gave  currency 
to  the  most  sinister  reports,  and  an  opinion  ver}' 
generally  prevailed,  that  the  discarded  service 
would  be  restored.  The  Council,  without  loSo 
of  time,  put  an  effectual  stop  to  these  vain 
hopes,  by  writing,  on  Christmas-da}^,  to  all  the 
bishops,  to  this  effect  :  that  inasmuch  as  the 
English  service  was  drawn  up  by  learned  men, 
according  to  Scripture,  and  the  use  of  the  primi- 

*  Collier's  Hist,  of  the  Church,  ii.  275. 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH.  207 

tive  Church,  that  all  clergymen  therefore  should 
deliver  up  such  "Antiphonales,  Missals,  Grayles, 
Processionals,  Manuals,  Legends,  Portuasses, 
Ordinals,"  &c.,  as  were  in  their  hands,  according 
to  the  several  uses  of  dioceses — that  they  should 
observe  the  one  uniform  order  of  service  as  by 
law  established — and  that  they  should  be  par- 
ticular in  providing  bread  and  wine  for  the  com- 
munion on  Sunday.  An  Act  soon  afterwards 
was  passed,  confirming  this  order,  and  directing 
the  destruction  of  all  such  Romisli  books,  and 
the  total  demolition  of  all  images  of  saints  yet 
standing  in  churches  and  chapels. 

But  a  far  more  serious  subject  engaged  the 
close  attention  of  the  Reformers  at  this  time,  and 
was  conducted  with  the  same  caution  and  judg- 
ment that  had  hitherto  marked  the  progress  of 
the  Reformation.  By  a  recent  Act  the  King 
was  empowered  to  authorize  the  compilation  of 
a  new  Ordinal  ;  and  for  that  purpose  he  direct- 
ed the  same  commissioners*  as  had  compiled  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  to  undertake  this  im- 
portant charge.  The  commissioners  cheerfully 
undertook  the  task,  and  corom.^nced  and  carried 
through  the  work  with  a  careful  but  unsparing 
hand. 

On   examining  the   Romish  Ordinal,  it  was 
found  to  be  cumbered  with  an  undue  number  of 

*  Six  prelates,  aul  an  equal  number  of  inferior  divines. 


208        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

minor  orders  cqiiall}^  unknown  to  Scripture  and 
to  the  primitive  Church,  consistingof  subdeacons, 
acolyths,  exorcists,  readers,  and  porters.  Such 
oJSices  were,  therefore,  at  once  cut  off  as  unscrip- 
tural  innovations,  and  the  orders  alone  retained 
of  archbishop  and  bishop,  priest  and  deacon. 
With  the  minor  offices  were  also  rejected  those 
various  superstitious  usages  which  in  latter  ages 
had  been  added,  for  the  mere  pomp  of  the  cere- 
mony and  exaltation  of  the  priesthood. 

Following  closely  the  rules  of  the  primitive 
Church,  as  they  stand  recorded  by  the  fourth 
Council  of  Carthage,  a.  d.  398,  the  commission- 
ers proceeded  on  this  plain  and  scriptural  prin- 
ciple,— that  iirayer,  and  the  imposition  of  hands ^ 
are  the  essentials  of  ordination.  Hence,  in  the  ser- 
vice for  the  consecration  of  bishops,  the  rubrics 
were  struck  out  which  directed  the  use  of  gloves, 
sandals,  mitre,  ring,  or  crosier.  In  that  office, 
and  in  the  one  for  the  ordination  of  priests,  were 
omitted  also  the  anointing  with  the  chrism,  the 
delivery  of  consecrated  vestments,  and  of  the 
chalice  and  paten,  with  the  power  of  offer- 
ing sacrifice  to  God,  and  of  celebrating  masses 
for  the  living  and  the  dead, — all  of  which  were 
innovations  of  the  tenth  centur}^  wdien  the  doc- 
trine of  transubstantiation  was  first  introduced. 

In  the  place  of  these  unwarranted  innova- 
tions, it  was  directed  that  a  Bible  alone  should 
be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  every  one  ordained 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  209 

to  the  office  of  priest,  as  significantly  admonish- 
ing him  of  the  nature  of  his  high  commission, 
viz.  :  to  dispense  the  word  of  God  freehj  among  the 
people,  and  duly  administer  those  two  only  sacra- 
ments which  that  word  enjoins,  as  being  generally 
necessary  to  salvation.  According  to  the  Romish 
ordinal,  the  bishop  alone  laid  his  hand  upon  the 
head  of  the  priest ;  in  this  the  Reformers,  taking 
for  their  model  the  ordination  of  Timothy  (1  Tim. 
iv.  14),  and  the  common  practice  of  the  ancient 
western  Church,  made  an  important  alteration, 
by  enjoining  all  priests  who  may  be  present  to 
unite  with  the  bishop  in  la3dng  on  of  hands. 

In  that  part  of  our  ordination  service  which 
is  interrogative,  there  is  likewise  an  essential  de- 
parture from  the  Romish  form.  In  that,  tlie  dea- 
con is  asked  no  question — the  priest  nothing  but 
what  relates  to  canonical  obedience — and  the 
bishop,  only  what  refers  to  his  belief  in  the  Trin- 
ity, and  in  the  divine  origin  of  Scripture.  In  the 
reformed  ordinal,  on  the  contrary,  a  series  of 
most  grave  and  weighty  questions  are  applied  to 
each  order  of  the  ministry,  in  which  their  belief 
in  the  canonical  Scriptures,  as  the  only  and  suf- 
ficient ride  of  faith,  forms  a  prominent  feature. 
The  only  question  that  has  excited  any  scruple 
in  the  minds  of  conscientious  churchmen,  is  the 
first  that  is  put  to  the  deacon — "  Do  you  trust 
that  you  are  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  take  upon  you  this  office  and  ministration,  to 


210         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

serve  God  for  the  promoting  of  his  glor}'',  and 
the  edif3ang  of  his  people '?"  To  which  he  an- 
swers— "  I  trust  so."  But  surely  no  seriously- 
disposed  person,  who  acts  by  his  o\vn  delibe- 
rate choice  and  freewill,  and  with  the  honest  in- 
tention of  doing  his  duty,  God  helping  him  both 
to  will  and  to  do,  need  be  afraid  of  expressing 
his  simple  "  trust  "  that  he  is  guided  by  God's 
Spirit  in  what  he  is  doing  !  and  no  more  does  he 
express — it  is  a  hope  that  his  deliberate  act,  ap- 
proved and  suggested  by  his  own  conscience 
and  judgment,  and  confirmed  by  the  direction 
of  his  studies  and  manner  of  life,  is  an  evidence 
to  him  that  God  is  willing  to  accept  his  services 
on  trial  in  the  sacred  vineyard.  Whoever  pre- 
sumes to  lay  his  hand  on  the  holy  ark  with  other 
feelings  and  other  intentions,  has  *'  neither  part 
nor  lot  in  the  matter."  He  must  look  to  the  fear- 
ful consequences,  and  be  prepared  to  sustain  the 
awful  responsibility  in  his  own  person,  and  not 
to  impugn  the  character  of  the  service. 

But  one  more  important  part  of  the  ordina- 
tion service  remains  to  be  noticed — namely,  the 
adoption  from  the  Romish  ordinal  of  very  nearly 
the  same  words  with  which  the  apostles  were 
commissioned  by  the  Great  Bishop  of  our  souls  :* 
Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost — whose  sins  thou 

*  St.  John  XX.  22,  23. 


a 


NOT  A  NEW  CHLrRCH.  211 

(lo-t  forf>ive,  thev  arc  forgiven  ;  and  whose  sins 
ihou  dost  retain,  they  are  retained." 

In  adopting  these  words  of  Christ  Himself, 
the  Refornaers  disclaimed  the  arrogant  preten- 
sions of  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  the  power 
claimed  bv  the  priesthood  of  irrespectively  a.b- 
solving  the  people  from  their  sins.  The  Protest- 
ant "  candidate  for  sacerdotal  ordination  "  is  in 
effect  admonished,  that  unless  the  imposition  of 
hands  be  attended  by  faith,  repentance,  and 
praver  on  his  own  part,  assuredly  no  spiritual 
gift  is  communicated  to  him.  He  is  also  taught, 
by  the  principles  of  his  Church,  and  he  is  bound 
to  teach  others,  that  his  "  absolving  voice  is  only 
ministerial,  and  that  all  who  desire  to  hear  from 
his  lips  the  assurance  of  pardon,  must  come  with 
the  preparation  of  a  truly  contrite  heart."* 

This  limitation  draws  a  wide  distinction  be- 
tween the  respective  commission  of  the  Romish 
and  Protestant  Priest — for  that  such  is  really  the 
sole  authority  claimed  by  the  latter,  is  evidenced 
by  the  vcrv  terms  adopted  in  the  Absolution  that 
follows  the  Confession  in  the  daily  services  of 
the  Church  of  England,  where  the  priest's  words 
are  simply  declarator ij  of  God's  pardon  to  every 
penitent  believer.,  and  nothing  more — and  in  the 
same  sense,  and  with  precisely  the  same  limita- 
tions, must  be  understood  the  form  of  absolution 

*  Soames's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  iii,  p.  533. 


212        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

contained  in  the  Office  for  the  Visitation  of  the 
Sick,  which  is  derived  from  the  words  of  Christ, 
when  He  conferred  on  St.  Peter,  and  the  rest  of 
the  apostles,  the  power  of  the  keys  :  "  Whatso- 
ever thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in 
heaven  :  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."*  The  Ro- 
manist, in  assuming  to  his  Church  the  power  he 
has  done,  from  these  words  of  Christ,  has  strange- 
ly erred  in  this  point,  as  he  has  in  a  multitude 
of  others,  from  not  knowing  the  Scriptures — for 
what  is  this  power  that  has  been  conferred  on 
the  Christian   priesthood  of  hind/incr  and  loosinor 

-L  CO 

men  on  eartn  '?  The  expression  has  stricth'  a,  re- 
ference to  the  same  -power  conferred  on  the  Jew- 
ish priesthood  under  the  Levitical  law.  and  no 
more.  What  was  that  power  ?  By  the  Leviti- 
cal lawt  the  priest  was  to  be  the  judge,  as  to 
whether  a  man  was  a  leper  or  not.  If  he  was, 
then  the  priest  bound  him,  and,  pronouncing 
him  to  be  unclean,  locked  him  up.  But  if,  after 
seven  da\^«,  on  exhibiting  himself  to  the  priest, 
the  priest  judged  the  leprosy  to  be  healed,  he 
(the  priest)  then  pronounced  the  leprosy  to  be 
clean,  and  loosed  him  from  the  bonds  wherewith 
he  was  bound,  unlocking,  it  might  be,  the  doors 
of  his  prison.  Thus  Christ's  expression,  of 
giving  to  the  Church  "the  keys  of  the  kingdom 

'Matt.  xvi.  15.     t  Levit.  xii-.3  "'rx  J<:i^^  \T\zr\  -"-X-V 

'  I        -■:.'-       -  tt: 


NOT   A  NEW  CHURCH.  213 

of  heaven,"  becomes  intelligible,  and  simply 
figurative ;  and  thus  the  power  of  the  priest 
with  respect  to  the  leper  was  only  declaratory — 
he  "  uncleaned"  the  man,  as  the  word  in  the 
original  might  be  transhited,  bv  pronouncing  him 
"unclean" — he  "cleaned"  him,  by  pronouncing 
him  "  clean."  So  likewise  the  commission  s'lv- 
en  by  Christ  to  his  apostles,  o^oinc/ing  nnd  loos- 
ing, was  of  the  same  declaratt)ry  and  ministerial 
nature.  The  sinner,  as  Ioug^  as  he  continues  in 
his  sins,  is  to  be  pronounced  by  the  priest,  un- 
clean, bound  under  the  chain  of  sin,*  and  in  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  and  thereibre  judicially 
shut  out  from  the  li'h.erty,  and  light,  and  privi- 
leges of  the  children  of  God.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  who  confesses  his  sins,  and,  by 
a  sincere  repentance  and  lively  faith,  exhibits  a 
true  conversion  of  heart,  may  be  pronounced  by 
the  priest  as  clean  every  whit — loosed  from  sin, 
delivered  from  the  condemnation  of  sin,  and 
once  more  restored  to  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God.  This  is  the  legitimate  use  of 
the  "  keys" — this  is  truly  to  proclaim  "  deliver- 
ance to  the  captives,  the  opening  of  the  prison 

*  The  foUowinar  beaTitiful prayer  of  oui-  Clmrch  is  iu  exact  ac- 
coniance  with  the  figure  here  used  by  Christ . — '•  O  God,  whose 
nature  au.l  properly  is  ever  to  have  mercy  and  to  forgive,  receive 
our  humble  petitions:  and  thouirh  ice  be  fie  J  an  I  bound  icith  the 
chain  of  cur  sins,  vet  let  the  pitifuhiess  of  thy  great  mercy  loose 
us,  for  the  houor  of  Jesus  Chi-ist,  our  Mediator  and  Advocate. 
Ameu." 


214         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

doors  to  them  that  are  bound" — this  is  the  most 
blessed  and  delightful  of  all  the  duties  of  the 
Christian  minister!* 

Is  it  not,  then,  plain,  that  the  absolving  pow- 
er of  the  Christian  priesthood  is  strictly  limited 
to  a  declaration  of  Godh  forgiveness  on  certain 
conditions — and  is  it  not  blasphem}^  of  the  deepest 
dye,  in  the  Romish  priest,  to  pronounce  a  sin- 
ner''s  iiardon  ahsoliitelij  from  hnnself  whereby  he 
arrooates  to  himself  the  honor  that  belon2:s  to 
God  alone,  "  opposeth,  and  exalteth  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worship- 
ped ;  so  that  he  as  God  silteth  in  the  temple  of 
God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God"  (2  Thess. 
ii.  4.)  ;  whereas  God  has  declared  "  he  will  not 
give  his  glory  to  another?"  (Isa.  xlii.  8.  also 
xlviii.  lit.) 

With  the  completion  of  the  ordinal  termi- 
nated the  labours  of  the  lituroical  commission- 
ers  ;  to  whose  wisdom,  prudence,  and  persever- 
ance, the  Church  of  England  stands  indebted, 

*  Vide  Appendix.  No.  VI. 

t  In  no  respect  has  the  commission  of  the  keys  been  more 
abu.sed  by  the  Church  of  Rome  than  by  the  power  assumed  by 
the  Pope  of  being  aljle  to  change  the  commandments  of  God, 
and  of  absolving  from  oaths  and  vows  made  to  God,  whereby  he 
exalts  himself  above  God,  and.  thus  takes  to  himself  the  undoubt- 
ed character  of  "that  man  of  sin,"  (2  Thess.  ii.  4.)  who  was  to 
be  "revealed."  For  whosoever  pretends  to  the  power  of  absolv- 
ing men  from  fidelity  and  obedience  to  God,  must,  in  his  own 
estimation,  be  greater  than  God.     That  man  is  Antichrist. 


NOT  A  XEW  CHURCH*  215 

for  thai  system  of  public  worship  which,  as  bas- 
ed on  the  word  of  God  exclusively,  may  safely 
challenge  every  other  form  in  the  Christian 
world.  So  scriptural  is  its  language,  and  so  de- 
votional its  spirit  throughout,  that,  while  it  se- 
cures the  admiration  and  attachment  of  its 
friends,  it  powerfully  commands  the  respect  of 
its  enemies  ;  and,  by  the  tone  of  moderation  that 
pervades  every  portion,  the  two  extreme  parties 
in  religion  can  all  unite  in  appealing  to  its  pe- 
culiar adaptation  to  their  several  wants. 

Thus  far,  then,  have  we  accompa.iied  ihose 
illustrious  pioneers  of  our  Church,  the  Reform- 
ers, in  Jieir  great  and  godlike  work  of  cleansing 
the  temple  of  God,  and  of  presenting  to  their 
people  their  national  Church  restored  to  its  origi- 
nal simplicity  and  purity,  and  purged  of  that 
gross  corruption  and  idolatry  under  which  it 
had  so  long  been  oppressed. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  that  a  transition 
so  great  in  the  religious  institutions  of  the  coun- 
try could  be  cifected  widiout  a  corresponding 
change  in  public  opinion ;  or  that  so  complete  a 
revolution  in  the  national  svstem  of  reliirion 
could  be  consummated,  without  the  growth  of  a 
plentiful  crop  of  polemical  agitation.  A  spirit 
of  religious  inquiry  succeeded  to  a  spirit  of  slum- 
])er  ;  and  men's  minds,  so  long  entranced  by  the 
f  it;il  enchantments  of  the  Romish  priesthood, 
were  now  broad  awake,  and  in  full  and  active 


216        THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

operation,  earnestly  seeking,  by  such  helps  as 
were  at  hand,  after  being  tossed  to  and  fro  on  a 
sea  of  doubt  and  perplexity,  to  find  repose  at 
last  on  some  fixed  and  certain  basis.  Cranmer 
had  long  watched,  with  anxious  solicitude,  the 
feverish  excitement,  and,  like  a  prudent  pilot, 
was  determined  to  put  his  vessel  in  the  best  trim 
for  meeting,  on  the  one  hand,  the  storms  already 
blowing  from  Rome,  and,  on  the  other,  the  im- 
petuous current  of  private  judgment,  which  the 
Reformation  had  at  length  emancipated.  He 
saw  that  it  was  not  enough  to  have  cleansed  and 
renovated  the  Cliurch,  unless  she  could  be  fur- 
nished with  the  means  of  proclaiming  her  doc- 
trines clearly,  definitively,  and  with  authority, 
and  at  the  same  time  of  securing-  an  uniform 
system  of  public  instruction  for  her  members, 
who  would  otherwise  be  confounded  and  per- 
plexed b}^  the  discordant  sentiments  that  would 
every  where  flow  from  the  pulpits. 

From  the  earliest  foundation  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  a  standard  of  faith  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  was  ever  considered  most 
necessary,  and  "a  Form  of  doctrine"*  was  as 
freel}^  received  and  "obeyed  from  the  heart" 
by  the  Roman  converts,  as  "the  Form  of  sound 
Words  "t  was  earnestly  pressed  by  St.  Paul  on 
the  acceptance  of  Timothy.     These  "Forms,'* 

*  Rom.  vi.  17.  t  2  Tim.  i.  13. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  217 

whatever  they  were,  appear  to  have  been  re- 
ceived by  all  the  Apostolic  Churches,  but  prob- 
ably were  not  all  expressed  in  the  same  words. 
In  process  of  time,  when  the  Church  extended 
herself  on  all  quarters,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  provide  a  settled  standard  of  Christian  doc- 
trine. Accordingly,  we  find  that  at  the  first 
council  held  at  Nice  by  Constantine,  a.  d.  325,  a 
Confession  of  Faith  was  agreed  upon.  Subse- 
quent councils  followed  the  same  course  ;  and 
the  celebrated  Council  of  Trent,  which  was  now 
sitting,  were  engaged  in  the  same  work,  though 
with  a  very  different  view. 

The  German  Reformers  felt  the  like  necessi 
ty,  and  had  their  separate  Confessions;  such 
were  those  of  Wirtem^berg,  Augsburg,  &c.  But 
these  Confessions  were,  after  all,  not  sufficiently 
comprehensive  for  universal  use.  The  Conti- 
nental and  British  Reformers,  therefore,  were 
extremely  desirous  that  a  Congress  might  be 
assembled,  consisting  of  delegates  from,  all  the 
Protestant  states,  who  should  draw  up  a  gener- 
al creed,  that  should  unite  conflicting  opinions, 
and  bind  the  whole  Reformed  Church  under  one 
uniform  system  of  relio^ious  belief.  Cranmer 
and  his  royal  master  were  no  less  earnest  in  this 
matter  than  Calvin  and  Melancthon,  and  a  cor- 
respondence was  opened  on  the  subject  between 
the  latter  and  the  former ;  but  whether  from  the 

impracticability  of  uniting  discordant  opinions 

12 


218 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 


or  from  the  intrigues  fomented  by  the  Council 
of  Trent,*  the  negociation  failed  altogether. 
The  archbishop,  therefore,  despairing  of  success 

on  so  wide  a  plan,  contracted  his  views 
1551.    considerably,  and    proceeded   with   the 

preparation  of  Articles  for  the  Church  of 

England  alone. 
Acting  on  the  liberal  plan  of  framing  such  a 
formulary  as  should  not  be  too  exclusive,  he 
wisely  designed  the  first  articles  which  he  drew 
up  to  be  of  so  general  a  nature,  as  to  be  admis- 
sible by  even  extreme  parties  in  the  Church. 
As  neither  the  Calvinist  nor  the  Arminian  could 
arrogate  to  himself  an  exclusive  interest  in  them, 
so  neither  of  them  could  justly  take  offence  at 
any  doctrine  which  they  established. 

Whether  Ridley,  Bishop  of  London,  had  any 
share  in  their  compilation,  is  uncertain,  though 
it  is  generally  supposed  that  he  was  consulted 
by  Cranmer  on  the  occasion. 

Melancthon,  the  principal  representative  of  the 
Lutherans,  and  the  great  opposer  of  Calvin,  no 
doubt  advised  and  influenced  the  archbishop  in 
their  construction,which  alone  sufficientl}^  refutes 
the  idea  of  their  having  a  Calvinistic  tendency  ; 
and  if  Cranmer  was  the  chief  compiler,  his  well- 
known  principles  are  ample  proof  of  their  anti- 
Calvinistic  character — for  all  his  writings  exhib- 

*  vide  Strype's  Mem  of  Cranmer,  p.  207. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  219 

it  him  as  * '  the  advocate  of  nniversal  redemption 
and  an  election  through  baptism,  to  the  privileges 
of  the  Christian  covenant."*  However,  whether 
Cranmer  was  their  sole  or  joint  author,  and 
whether  he  purposely  or  not  meant  them  to 
speak  equivocally  on  controverted  points  of 
faith,  he  seems  to  have  succeeded  admirably  in 
his  design,  and  to  have  secured  the  entire  appro- 
pation  of  his  sovereign  and  most  of  the  bishops. 

*  "If  the  Compilers  of  the  Articles,"  observes  Mr.  Le  Bas, 
■"intended  them  to  be  Calviaistic,  they  must  have  purposely  in- 
tended to  throw  contempt  on  their  own  liturgy,  A  collection  of 
oflBces  like  oiirs,  followed  up  by  a  decidedly  predestinarian  con- 
fession, would  have  been  a  perfect  monster.,  Any  one  who 
knows  the  cautious  chai^cter  of  Cranmer  never  could  believe  this. 
His  mantle  fell  at  length  upon  a  Protestant  successor,  animated 
by  a  spirit  similar  to  his  own.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the 
Articles  were  revised,  under  the  superintendence  of  Archbishop 
Parker;  but  even  then  no  infusion  of  Calvinism  was  admitted. 
The  source  of  the  corrections  was,  manifestly,  the  Confession  of 
Wirtemberg,  (a  compendium  of  the  Lutheran  Confession  of  A ugs- 
berg,)  drawn  up  in  1551,  for  the  purpose  of  being  exhibited  to 
the  Council  of  Trent,  and  not  impressed  with  a  single  lineament 
of  Calvinism,  In  the  course  of  time,  however,  men  of  a  different 
spirit  succeeded.  The  Calvinistic  fever  became,  for  awhile,  al- 
most epidemic ;  and  towai'ds  the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  cei'tain 
of  our  leading  divines  (the  Patrons  of  the  Lambeth  Articles,)  with 
our  truly  Catholic  Uturgy  before  their  eyes,  laboured  to  perfect 
our  Articles  by  an  ample  introduction  of  the  Genevan  doctrine. 
A  subsequent  testimony  to  the  liberal  spirit  of  this  confession  was 
borne  at  a  later  period,  by  the  Westminister  Divines,  whose  first 
attempt  at  remodelling  the  Church  was  a  review  of  the  Articles, 
and  this  too,  with  the  avowed  design  of  making  them  more  de- 
terminately  m  favour  of  Calvinism;  a  design  which  was  still 
cherished  by  the  same  party  at  the  celebrated  Savoy  Conference 
»ft»r  the  Restoration."— Z.t/e  of  Cranmer,  vol.  ii.  p.  94* 


229  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLANI? 

Yet  excellent  as  was  the  work,  it  was  by  no 
means  perfect. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1-552,  the 

1552.  archbishop  was  directed  to  recast  it  on  a 
larger  scale — which  was  accordingly  done 

— fresh  matter  was  added — certain  amendments 
made — and  titles  w^ere  now  appended  to  the 
several  divisions.  In  this  form,  before  the  con- 
clusion of  the  year,  Cranmer  returned  to  the 
Council  fort3'-two  articles  for  the  inspection  of 
Convocation,  and  accompanied  them  with  a  let- 
ter, in  which  he  recommended  that  subscription 
to  them  should  be  made  obligatory  upon  the 
whole  clerical  body. 

To  these  articles   Convocation    gave 

1553.  their  consent,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  c  lergy  were  called  u  pon  by 

royal  mandate  to  subscribe  them.  These  forty- 
two  articles  underwent  little  or  no  alteration  till 
their  revision  by  Archbishop  Parker,  when,  by 
the  wise  omission  of  the  lour  last,  and  some 
slight  alterations  in  the  wording  of  others,  they 
were  republished  under  the  authority  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  in  nearly  the  form  in  which  we  now 
receive  them. 

Thus  was  the  last  great  work  accomplished 
that  w*as  to  give  adhesion,  unity,  and  stability 
to  the  Reformed  Church  of  England,  and  to 
sever  for  ever  that  heavy  chain  of  bondage  and 
delusion  by  which  she  had  been  bound  to  the 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  221 

papal  car.  "Had  those  excellent  persons  (the 
Reformers,)"  remarks  Paley,  "clone  nothing 
more  by  their  discovery  than  abolished  an  inno- 
cent superstition,  or  changed  some  directions  in 
the  ceremonial  of  public  worship,  they  had 
meriled  little  of  that  veneration  with  which  the 
gratitude  of  Protestant  churches  remembers 
their  services.  What  they  did  for  mankind  was 
this — they  exonerated  Cliristianity  of  a  weight  that 
sunk  it.^^*  The  Church,  disencumbered  of  that 
gorgeous  apparel  which  the  vanity  of  an  am- 
bitious priesthood  had  thrown  around  her,  and 
stript  of  those  meretricious  blandishments  which 
but  ill  concealed  her  faded  beauty,  now  shone 
forth  like  the  orb  of  day  after  a  long  night  of 
storm  and  darkness — renovated  in  herdiscipUne 
— reformed  in  her  doctrine — and  simplified  in 
her  ritual.  "Holiness  unto  the  Lord"  was  once 
more  inscribed  upon  her  walls — once  more 
coukl  she  challenge  the  respect  and  love  of  her 
children,  and  claim  a  name  and  a  place  the  most 
distinguished  among  the  purest  branches  of  the 
Protestant  Church. 

That  so  fair  a  fabric  should  have  arisen  out 
of  the  rude  and  disorderlv  materials  that  offered 
themselves  to  its  wise  master-builders — that 
they  should  have  so  quickly  and  skilfully  re- 
united in  one  harmonious  whole,  parts  so  dis- 

*  Address  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  in  his  Prin.  of  Mor.  PhiL 


222  THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAN1> 

jointed,  and  elements  so  discordant, — ^to  what 
can  we  ascribe  a  work  so  mighty — a  reproduc- 
tion so  wonderful,  but  unto  the  counsel  of  Him 
*'who  spake,  and  it  was  done — who  command- 
ed, and  it  stewed  fast  ?  "  How  shall  we  account 
lor  the  mighty  victory  of  truth  over  error,  ac- 
complished by  means  so  apparently  inadequate 
to  overcome  long  established  prejudices  and 
deep-rooted  attachments,  hrkt  by  referring  all  to 
Him,  "who  frustrateth  the  tokens  of  liars- — who 
turneth  wise  men  backward,  and  maketh  their 
knowledge  foolish  ?^  For  "  walk  about  our 
Zion,  and  go  round  about  her,  mark  well  her 
bulwarks,  consider  her  towers  "  and  you  will 
behold  an  edifice  (O  how  unlike  what  Popery 
had  made  it !)  now  restored  to  the  measure  of 
that  *'  Pattern"  after  which  it  was  originally 
founded*  "  Alike  removed  from  ostentation  and 
meanness,  from  admiration  of  ornament^  and 
disdain  of  it,"  vou  will  behold  her  "foundations 
built  upon  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  comer  stone," — you  will 
see  her  walls  cemented  with  the  blood  of  mar- 
tyrs, and  engraven  with  the  names  of  saints  and 
confessors — ^you  will  behold  a  Church  "  retain- 
ing so  much  reverence  for  ancient  customs  and 
ancient  forms,  as  not  rashly  to  abolish  them,  and 
only  so  much  as  not  to  adopt  them  blindly.*" 

*  Bluut's  Hist,  of  tlie  Befbrmatioo. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  223 

Three  centuries  nearly  have  rolled  away  since 
God  thus  visited  his  people — and  though  con- 
vulsions have  rent  the  civil  polity  of  England, 
and  the  ark  of  God  fell  for  a  time  into  the  sacri- 
legious handsof  ungodly  men,  yet  has  the  Church 
remained  unshaken  by  the  storms  without,  and 
by  the  treachery  of  false  brethren  within.  She 
still  continues  to  lift  her  head  among  the  nations, 
and  as  the  depository  of  the  pure  word  of  God 
stands  prominently  forward  in  these  stirring 
times  of  religious  and  political  excitement,  the 
great  bulwark  of  Protestantism — the  hope  and 
glory  of  Christendom* 


CHAPTER  Vni. 


'•  Siard  ve  in  me  ways,  and  see.  and  ask  for  the  old  pattLS,  where 
is  the  s'ood  ■way,  and  w^lk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for 
yonr  souls." — Jerem.  vi.  16. 

Ix  bringing  this  sketch  of  the  rise,  fall,  and  res- 
toration of  the  British  Church  to  a  conclusion, 
the  author  believes  he  has  most  fully  established 
all  the  points  that  he  proposed  to  prove — ^that 
the  Church  of  England  is  a  primitive,  apostoH- 
cal,  and  independent  branch  of  Christ's  Holy 
Catholic  Church — that  her  antiquitv  is  unques- 
tionable— ^her  priority  to  the  Church  of  Rome  as 
an  established  national  church,  recognised  by 
the  State,  undoubted — ^that  she  was  a  protestant 
Church  more  than  900  years  before  the  Refor- 


THE  CHLTICH  OF  EXGLAXD,  ETC.  U'2o 

mation — that    her    independence   as   such  was 
maintiined  till  after  the  Norman  Conquest — that 
her  submission  to  the  See  of  Rome  wa?  effected 
by  the  force  of  error,  of  arms,  of  intimidation, 
and  of  priestcraft.     He  has  shown  that  the  Po- 
pish claim,  through  the   power  of  *' the  Kevs," 
to  be  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all   Churches, 
is  a  vain  and  arrogant  pretence,  warranted  neith- 
er by  Scripture  nor  by   history — that  the  papril 
usurpation  and  tyranny  was  effected  and  main- 
tained bv  means  the  most  infamous  that  can  be 
conceived — that  the   Ciiurch    of  Rome   riveted 
her  voke  on  the  necks  of  the  people,  by  keeping 
them  in  the   grossest  ignorance — by  lockinsr  up 
the  Scriptures  in  an  unknown  tongue — by  per- 
vertinar  the  truth — bv  denvins:  the  ri^ht  of  ori- 
vate  judgment — by  forcing  on  them   doctrines, 
rites,  and   ceremonies  such  as  Christ,  his  apos- 
tles,    and    their   immediate    successors    never 
taught — by  invading  the  heritage  of  their    fore- 
fathers, and  burning  and  blotting  out,  tearing  or 
interpolating  their  sacred  title-deeds  to  eternal 
life,    the   Holy  Scriptures — and   by  substituting 
for  the  Scriptures  the  vain  traditions  of  men. 

These  several  points  the  author  confidently 
believes  have  been  proved  by  the  fairest  and 
most  incontrovertible  testimony  that  history  af- 
fords— and  consequently  that  the  Reformation 
tca3  not  the  in  rent  ion  of  a  new  religion,  but  the  res^ 

toration  of  the  old — the  recovery  of  that  heritage 

"  12* 


2^6  THE  CHURCH  OF  E^TGLANl? 

of  our  fathers  which  was  surreptitiously  stolen 
from  them.  So  that  the  question  with  which 
the  Romanists  are  continually  taunting  Protest- 
ants,— Where  their  religion  was  before  the  Re- 
formation  ? — adds  mockery  to  theft*  Thanks  be 
to  God,  the  popish  plunderers  could  neither  to- 
tally deface  the  seals,  nor  utterly  destroy  the 
parchments  of  Protestantism.  They  might,  and 
they  did,  mar  and  mutilate  them  by  the  legends 
and  fables  of  an  infallible  Church  ;  but  the  God 
of  truth  "  laughed  at  their  devices — ^the  Lord  had 
them  in  derision."  The  restorers  of  the  Church 
of  England  were  too  wise  in  their  generation, 
when  they  discovered  the  theft,  to  abandon  the 
strong  ground  of  scriptural  light.  The  Cran- 
mers  and  Latimers,  the  Ridleys  aod  Jewells — 
the  giants  of  those  days, — -men  who,  "  by  God's 
graccy  lighted  up  such  a  candle  in  England  as 
shall  never  be  put  out" — **  stood  in  the  ways 
and  saw,  and  asked  for  the  old  paths,  where 
was  the  good  way,  and  they  walked  therein." 
Yes,  these  mighty  men  had  beene^^e-witnesses  of 
the  scandalous  corruptions  and  gross  idolatry  of 
the  Church  of  Rome — they  had  seen  "the 
churches  full  of  images  wonderfully  decked  and 
adorned  with  precious  stones;  their  dead  and 
still  bodies  clothed  w^ith  garments  stiff  with 
gold,"  to  which  the  stupid  people  bowed  down 
and  worshipped — -they  had  seen  "the  priests 
themselves,  with  a  solemn  pace,  pass  forth  be- 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  227 

fore  these  golden  puppets,  and  fall  down  to  the 
ground  on  their  knees  before  these  idols,  and 
then  rising  up  again,  offer  up  odours  and  incense 
unto  them"* — they  had  seen  the  bowings  and 
gesticulations,  the  cross-creepings,  and  altar- 
kissings,  and  bread-breathings,  and  all  the  hun- 
dred other  acts  of  mummery  and  pantomime, 
which  so  disgraced  the  Roman  ritual — they  had 
heard  the  prayers  mumbled  in  a  strange  tongue, 
unintelligible  to  the  people — they  had  witnessed 
the  famine  of  the  Word,  the  withholding  the 
Scriptures  from  the  people — they  had  seen  and 
heard,  and  felt  these  unwarrantable  innovations 
and  novelties — -they  brought  them  to  the  test  of 
Scripture — of  primitive  practice — they  weighed 
them  in  the  balance  of  the  sanctuary — they 
**  measured  them  by  the  Pattern"  that  had  sur- 
vived the  Church's  ruin — and  without  castinor  all 
away  because  in  the  assay  they  discovered  a 
great  admixture  of  alloy,  they  carefully  cherish- 
ed whatever  remained  pure — "  that  only  in 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  had  prevaricated 
against  the  word  of  God,  or  innovated  against 
apostolic  tradition,  was  pared  away."  Of  the 
truth  of  this  remark  of  the  venerable  Taylor, 
the  Liturgy,  that  we  have  seen  them  compile  so 
cautiously,  and  scripturally,  is  an  everlasting 
witness.     A  strict  '' regard  for  ancient  faith  and 


*  Horn,  of  the  Charch  of  England. 


228         THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

piety  is  manifest  in  every  page,  and  almost 
every  paragraph,  of  that  incomparable  work  ; 
derived  as  it  is,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  ac- 
tual forms,  and  accordant  as  it  is,  in  all  parts, 
with  the  spirit  and  feeling  of  Christian  antiqui- 
ty. Nor  was  this  derivation  and  accordance  the 
mere  growth  of  circumstances  :  it  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  deliberate  result  of  free  choice 
and  discriminate  wisdom." 

In  the  Preface  to  the  Common  Prayer,  con- 
cerning the  service  of  the  Church,  we  are  direct- 
ed "to  search  out  by  the  ancient  Fathers  for 
the  original  and  ground  of  Divine  Grace."  And 
in  the  same  Preface,  "the  godly  and  decent  or- 
der of  the  ancient  Fathers  is  referred  to  as  the 
standard  of  our  worship."  But  the  standard  of 
our  worship  is,  in  truth,  the  standard  of  our 
faith.  For  we  may  "  boldly  challenge  our  ad- 
versaries to  produce  any  one  article  of  our  faith 
which  is  not  contained  in  the  formularies  of  our 
worship  ;  or  any  one  sentence  in  the  formularies 
of  our  worship  v/hich  is  not,  in  letter  or  in  spirit, 
contained  in  the  writinos  of  the  ancient  Church."* 
Away  then  forever  with  the  charge,  the  unfound- 
ed, untenable  charge  of  novelty  against  the 
Church  of  England-^away  with  the  plea  of  an- 
tiquity so  arrogantly  vaunted  by  the  Church  of 
Rome  !     The  foregoing  facts  demonstrate,  in  the 

^  Append,  to  Bp.  Jebb's  Serm.  p.  357. 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  ^2^ 

plainest  possible  way,  that  tlie  Reformers  are  no 
more  to  be  charged  with  the  bringing  in  of  a, 
^^  7iew  rcl?orio?i^^  than  our  Saviour  could  be  said 
to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets,  because  He 
purged  them  of  the  corrupt  glosses  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  or  to  have  erected  a  new  temple, 
because  He  cast  the  money-changers  out  of  the 
old  one.  As  well  might  it  be  said,  that  the  find- 
ing and  disentombing  the  church  of  Pcrranza- 
buloe,  the  relieving  its  walls  from  the  weight 
and  pressure  of  the  sand,  and  the  restoration  of 
it  to  its  original  form,  condition,  and  use,  has 
been  the  laying  of  new  foundations,  the  uprear- 
inor  of  a  new  church — the  one  is  not  less  absurd 
than  the  other.  Yet  such  is  the  sill}^  outcry  that 
has  been,  and  is  to  this  day,  raised  against  "the 
new  S3^stem  of  religion,"  as  it  is  called,*  which 
the  Reformation  introduced. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  grossest  fraud,  or  the 
greatest  ignorance,  on  the  part  of  the  Romanists  > 
in  the  face  of  the  facts  which  are  here  brought 
together,  still  to  persist  in  their  unfounded  pre- 
tensions. The  candid  inquirer  after  the  truth, 
be  he  Roman  Catholic  or  Protestant,  will  be  able 
to  say  to  which  side  the  charge  of  novelty  is  now 
the  most  applicable,  and  how  far  "  the  Church 
Service  of  England"  is  "  new  and  pretended" 
— is  in  "schism  and  heresy" — and  not  only 
"  unprofitable,"  but  "  damnable."* 

*  vide  Report  of  the  Downside  Discussion,  p.  384. 


230        THE  CHURCH  OP  ENGLAND 

The  power  of  truth  is  great,  and  shall  pre- 
vail; and  the  followers  of  Gospel  truth,  in  par- 
ticular, might  well  leave  the  unhappy  dupes  of 
error  to  grope  their  way  through  the  dark  and 
chilly  regions  of  an  unscriptural  religion,  in  the 
persuasion  that  the  time  cannot  be  far  distant 
when  the  God  of  truth  shall  arise,  in  the  majesty 
of  his  power,  and  vindicate  his  cause,  and  shall 
*'  send  out  his  light  arid  his  truth"  into  the  dark- 
est corners  of  the  earth.  Then  shall  "  the  man 
of  sin"t  be  destroyed— then  shall  Antichrist  no 
longer  ''  exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called 
God,  or  that  is  worshipped,"  but  shall  be  con- 
sumed "  with  the  spirit  of  God's  mouth,  and 
shall  be  destroyed  with  the  brightness  of  his 
coming."  (2  Thess.  ii.  8-)  Yet  let  the  united 
prayers  of  the  faithful  be  offered  up  continually 
to  the  Lord,  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  remove 

*  Vide  Notes  on  Acts  x.  9.  in  the  Popish  Bible  published  in 
1816,  under  the  sanction  of  Dr.  Troy. 

t  It  was  to  be  one  of  the  marks  of  the  "  man  of  sin,"  that 
"  as  God  he  should  sit  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself 
that  he  is  God."  (2  Thess.  ii.  4.)  Who  can  mistake  the  appli- 
cation? In  the  ceremony  at  Rome  called  the  adoration  of  the 
Pope  !  which  takes  place  soon  after  his  election,  his  holiness  **  is 
placed  in  a  chair  on  the  altar  of  the  Sixtine  chapel,  and  there  re- 
ceives the  homage  of  the  cardinals :  this  ceremony  is  again  re- 
peated on  the  high  altar  of  St.  Peter's." — Vide  Eustace^s  Class. 
Tour,  ii.  167 — 171.  Is  not  this  to  "  sit  as  God  in  the  temple  of 
God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God?"  O,  blind  indeed  are  the 
members  of  that  Church,  who  will  not  read  in  this  profane  prac- 
tice of  their  infallible  head  the  hteral  fvlJUmemJt  of  the  apostoli- 
cal prediction ! 


NOT  A  NEW  CHURCH.  231 

the  veil  from  the  understandings  of  our  Roman 
Catholic  brethren,  and  will  lead  them  to  re- 
nounce their  vain  superstitions,  and  their  many 
transgressions  of  the  commandment  of  God  *'by 
their  traditions."  We  would  entreat  them,  with 
all  brotherly  affection,  to  be  "  more  noble  than 
those  of  Thessalonica,  and  to  search  the  Scrip- 
tures" for  themselves,  and  not  to  take  their  re- 
ligion from  the  feeble  testimony  of  such  poor 
fallible  guides  as  popes,  councils,  and  human 
traditions.  We  pray  them  in  sadness,  but  in 
sincerity,  not  to  resist  conviction,  lest  haply  they 
may  be  found  to  fight  against  God.  We  say, 
in  the  spirit  of  most  urgent  entreaty,  *'  Come 
out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her 
plagues,"  "  for  in  her  was  found  the  blood  of 
prophets,  and  of  saints."  (Rev.  xviii.  4,  24.) 
We  offer  them  the  undoubted  heritage  of  their 
fathers — a  reasonable  service^  and  a  spiritual  wor- 
ship, which  they  have  so  unwisely  cast  away 
for  a  blind  obedience,  an  imidicit  faith,  and  a  wor- 
ship that  is  made  up  of  bodily  drudgeries,  and 
forms,  and  rites,  and  ceremonies,  which  have 
their  antitypes  in  the  idolatrous  religion  of  an- 
cient and  modern  heathens,  not  in  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  Christian  Church. 

The  Lord  grant  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
once  "beloved  of  God,"  may  "remember 
from  whence  she  has  fallen,  and  may  repr 


232      THE  CHrRCH  OF  ENGLAND,  ETC. 

and  do  the  first  works" — God  grant  that  the 
Church  of  England  may  be  spired  to  accom- 
phsh  those  high  destinies  which  seem  to  be 
awaiting  her — may  she  be  "  a  glorious  Church, 
not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  an^^  such  thing" 
— may  she  be  a  imited  Church  in  these  troubled 
times — and  may  such  of  her  children  as  have 
"  thoughtlessly  and  ungratefully  hfted  up  their 
heel  against  her,"  know  and  see  that  it  is  an 
evil  thing  and  bitter  to  forsake  and  betray  her 
by  whom  they  have  been  "  nourished  and 
brought  up  !" 

"  YiiV  my  brethren  and  companions'  sake,  I 
will  wish  her  prosperity.  Yea,  because  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  our  God,  I  will  seek  to  do 
her  good." 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I. 


The  letter  of  the  Earl  of  Manchester  to  his  son, 
Mr.  Walter  Montague,  (referred  to  at  page  32,) 
was    written  under  the    folio  win  o^   circumstan- 


ces  : — 


Having  given  his  son  an  excellent  education, 
he  sent  him  on  his  travels  into  France  and  Italy, 
where  he  imbibed  such  an  opinion  of  the  Ro- 
mish rel-'rrion,  from  the  many  Roman  Catholics 
with  whom  he  associated,  that  he  was  induced 
to  give  up  his  religion  p^nd  his  country,  and  re- 
tire into  a  monastery  in  France.  He  soon  after 
addressed  a  letter  to  his  father  from  Paris,  a.  d. 
1635,  in  which  he  attempted  to  justify  his 
change  of  religion  ;  and  among  other  grounds 
for  so  doing,  declared  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land being  defective  in  one  essential  mark  of  a 
true  Church,  namely,  her  visibilitij  at  all  times, 
she  was,  on  that  account,  a  false  Church,  and 
that  he  was  therefore  justified  in  nuittini::  her 
communion. 

Mr.  W.  Montague  appears  to  have  been  led 


234  APPENDIX. 

astray  on  this  point,  by  an  assertion  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, in  his  book  Contra  Petil.  c.  104,  that 
"  the  true  Church  has  this  certain  sign,  that  it 
cannot  be  hid ;"  on  which  he  (Mr.  W.  M.)  thus 
argued — "  Therefore  it"  (a  true  Church)  "  must 
be  known  to  all  nations ;  but  that  part  of  the 
(Protestant)  Donatists  is  unknown  to  many, 
therefore  cannot  be  the  true  ;  no  inference  can 
be  stronger  than  from  hence,  that  the  conceal- 
ment of  a  Church  disproves  the  truth  of  it." 

That  such  wretched  sophistry  could  ever 
have  misled  a  mind  so  acute  as  that  of  Mr.  Mon- 
tague, is  almost  incredible  ;  for  if  "  the  conceal- 
ment of  a  Church  really  disproves  its  truth," 
then  is  the  Church  of  Rome  not  a  true  Church, 
for  concealed  she  certainly  was  for  a  much 
longer  period  than  the  Protestant  Church,  hav- 
ing no  identity  whatever  in  the  most  essential  of 
her  doctrines  with  the  primitive  Church — purga- 
tory, indulgences,  tran substantiation,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass,  and  many  other  distinguishing 
doctrines,  being  absolutely  unknown  for  several 
hundred  years  after  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity. Thus  the  two  Churches,  as  far  as  this 
argument  goes,  would  be  nearly  on  a  level,  were 
there  not  this  difference — that  we,  Protestants, 
are  *'  troubled  to  show  our  Church  in  the  latter 
and  more  corru])t  ages,  and  the  Roman  Catholics 
theirs  in  the  first  and  purest — that  we  can  at 
least  find    ours    at   7iight,  and   they   theirs    at 


APPENDIX.  235 

noon.'*''*  On  which  side,  then,  even  by  Mr.  Mon- 
tague's own  rule,  does  truth  the  most  prepon- 
derate ? 

Let  the  admirable  letter  of  the  Earl  of  Man- 
chester answer  the  inquiry. 

Henry  Montagye  Earl  of  Manchester^  Answer  to 
his  son  Walter  Montagiie''s  Letter  to  him,  on 
changing  his  religion,  and  becoming  a  Papist. 
Communicated  Jrom  the  original,  by  the  said 
Walter,  to  the  Right  Hon.  Robert  Sidney,  Earl 
of  Leicester,  when  he  was  ambassador  in  France, 

"  Walter, — ^Your  letter  sent  from  Paris  tells 
me  how  much  debate  you  had  with  yourself, 
whether  with  silence  to  suspend  my  belief,  or  by  a 
clear  profession  to  assure  me  what  you  feared  to  pre- 
sent me;  hut  what  was  most  satisfactory  to  your  first 
duty  to  God,  that  you  thought  most  justifiable  to 
your  derivative  duty  to  nature,  therefore  resolved  to 
give  me  an  ingenuous  account  of  the  declaration 
you  had  made  then.  Had  3^ou  asked  my  coun- 
sel before  you  signified  the  resolution,  it  would 
have  showed  more  duty  in  you,  and  bred  less 
discontent  in  me  ;  but  think  how  welcome  that 
letter  could  be,  that  at  once  tells  of  the  inten- 
tion, and  signifies  the  resolution. 

"  Say  3'()u  could  not  expect  from  me  so  much 

*  Lord  Faulkland's  Answer  to  Mr.  Montague's  Letter,  also 
published  by  Dr.  Hammond. 


236  APPENDIX. 

theological  learning,  as  to  satisfy  ^^our  scruples, 
3^et  it  had  been  a  fair  address,  of  a  son  to  a 
father,  in  a  matter  of  that  importance  ;  nor  are 
you  ignorant  of  my  care,  I  dare  say  knowledge 
studied,  for  the  settlement  of  m}^  children  in  that 
true  faith  which  their  father  professed,  and  the 
Church  of  England  hath  established  :  There- 
fore, it  w^ould  have  been  your  greater  justifica- 
tion, and  my  less  sorrow,  [so]  to  have  lost  3'Our- 
self  with  love,  if  I  could  not  have  held  you  in 
with  religious  reason.  Haply  3'Ou  v\'ill  return 
upon  me  the  misconstruction  of  that  speech,  If 
any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  he  can- 
not he  my  disciple.  But  I  must  tell  you  that  by 
this  post-dated  duty,  you  have  trespassed  both 
upon  love  and  duty  ;  for  you  have  robbed  me  of 
the  means  of  helping  you  with  mine  advice ; 
which,  as  it  is  the  best  part  of  a  father's  portion 
to  give,  so  it  is  not  the  least  testimony  of  filial 
duty  to  ask. 

"  Now,  to  lay  such  a  blemish  upon  all  the 
cares  of  vour  former  education,  as  not  to  think 
me  worthy  to  see  ^^our  aim,  until  3^ou  have  set 
up  \^our  rest,  is  such  a  neglect,  that  without  over- 
much fatlierly  candour,  cannot  be  forced  into  an 
excusable  interpretation.  It  makes  me  suspect 
that  some  politick  respects,  or  private  seduce- 
ments,  if  not  discontentments,  have  wrouglit  up- 
on vou.  Policy  and  relin^ion,  as  thev  do  well 
together,  so  do  the}^  as  ill  asunder,  the  one  being 


APPENDIX.  237 

too  cunning  to  be  good,  the  other  being  too  sim- 
ple to  be  safe.  But  upon  policy  to  change  re- 
ligion, there  is  no  warrant  for  that,  less  for  dis- 
contentraents,  or  upon  scducements. 

'•  When  I  look  upon  3'our  letter,  which  you 
termed  an  ingemwus  account  of  yourself ,  it  seems 
to  me  not  an  account  of  your  new  professed  reli- 
gion, but  rather  an  exprobation  of  mine,  and  so 
of  ours  of  the  Church  of  England. 

"Had  I  known  the  doubts  before,!  might  have 
been  an  adviser;  but  objecting  them  atter  you 
had  resolved,  you  call  me  up  qow  to  be  a  dis- 
puter.  Although  I  be  of  his  opinion  who  thought 
that  truth  did  oftentimes  suffer  by  too  much  al- 
tercation, it  being  a  common  errour  amongst 
great  clerks  to  contend  more  for  victory  than  for 
verity  ;  yet  since  you  have  so  punctually  led  me 
into  it,  though  it  be  contrary  to  my  first  resola- 
tion  of  silence  (else  you  had  heaid  from  me  soon- 
er), and  finding  that  the  letter  3'ou  sent  me  had 
a  farther  reach  than  to  give  me  satisfaction,  (else 
the  copies  of  ^*1  would  not  have  been  divulged 
before  I  came  to  receiv^e  it,  and  uses  made  of  it 
to  my  discomfort,)  I  therefore  thought  myself 
tied  to  give  you  an  answer,  lest  those  of  your 
new  profession  should  think  (as  some  of  them 
say)  that  a  new  lapsarian  was  more  able  by  a 
few  days'  discipline  to  oppose  our  religion,  than 
an  old  father  and  long  professor  was  able  to  de- 
fend it. 


238  APPENDIX. 

"  Having  this  tie  upon  me,  I  hope,  on  the  one 
side,  our  learned  divines  will  pardon  me,  if  for 
my  son's  sake  I  dip  my  pen  in  their  ink ;  and 
you  on  the  other  side  will  lay  mine  arguments 
more  to  heart,  as  proceeding  from  the  bowels  of 
a  father,  than  if  they  had  been  framed  by  the 
brains  of  a  learned  divine. 

"  In  this  case  also  I  have  some  advantage  of 
other  men,  who  though  they  might  write  more 
learnedly,  yet  cannot  do  it  so  feelingly  ;  for  mine 
interest  is  not  only  in  the  cause,  but  in  the  per- 
son, for  whom  I  must  give  an  account,  if  there 
be  failing  in  my  part  to  reduce  him  to  truth.  A 
person  whose  letter  I  take  into  mine  hands,  as 
he  did  the  urn  of  his  son's  ashes,  to  shed  over  it 
veras  lachrymas^  as  arguments  of  the  truth  ;  both 
which  I  hope  shall  persuade  foreceably,  if  there 
be  any  of  that  bloud  left  in  you  that  I  gave  you. 
It  is  true,  affection  is  not  to  rule  religion  ;  yet  in 
this  way  nature  may  co-operate  with  grace. 

"  Your  letter  says  truly,  the  greatest  part  of  your 
life  capable  of  distinction  of  religions,  hath  been  in 
places,  and  conversant  with  persons  opposite  to  the 
faith  I  bred  you  in  ;  therefore,  you  say,  it  had  been 
strange,  if  natural  curiosity,  without  any  spiritual 
provocation,  had  not  invited  you  with  desire  of 
looking  upon  the  foundation  yoic  trode  on,  rather 
than  holding  fast  blindfold  by  your  education,  to  he 
always  carried  away  after  it, 

**  In  your  education,  God  knows,  my  first  care 


APPENDIX.  239 

was  to  season  you  with  true  religion,  wherein 
from  a  boy  you  attained  unto  such  knowledge, 
as  Spain  will  witness,  (when  you  were  but  a 
youth,)  how  strong  a  champion  you  were  for  the 
Protestant  profession.  The  court  of  France,  nor 
yet  all  the  Princes'  courts  of  Christendom,  (most 
of  which  you  have  visited,)  could  never  till  now 
taint  your  faith,  but  always  rendered  you  sound 
in  the  religion  which  you  carried  with  you  hence. 

*'  But  now  Italy  hath  turned  you,  because 
England  hath  discontented  you. 

"  In  your  last  jo^imey  into  Italy,  as  you  said, 
you  applied  all  you?'  leisure  time  to  confirm  your 
judgment  in  the  doctrine  introduced  by  your  educa- 
tion ;  which  if  you  had  done  seriously,  you  could 
not  so  soon,  nor  would  not  at  all,  upon  so  weak 
motives,  have  let  go  your  hold;  for  of  all  other 
their  tenets  the  two  you  mentioned  are  the 
weakest,  and  have  received  clearest  satisfaction  ; 
whereby  it  appears  that  you  were  resolved  to 
give  up  the  cause,  before  you  came  at  it ;  and 
what  you  would  not  hold  blind-fold,  to  give  up 
blind-fold,  which  is  worse. 

"  Could  that  be  a  motive  to  your  desertion  of 
our  Church,  as  perswaded  that  Luther  was  the 
father  of  our  faith?  yourself  cannot  forget,  how 
that  we  build  our  faith  upon  Christ,  not  upon 
Luther,  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  not 
upon  the  inventions  of  men.  Could  it  be  proved 
against   us,  that  Luther  or  any  other  man,  how 


240  APPENDIX. 

grey-headed  soever,  were  the  inventor  of  our 
faith,  there  needed  no  more  to  be  said,  we  could 
contend  no  longer.  But  we  renounce  all  men 
alike  as  inventors  of  religion,  or  any  part  of  it ; 
but  hold  only  the  apostolical  doctrine  of  the  an- 
cient Primitive  and  Cathohck  Church,  and  pre- 
sume not  to  coin  any  new  creed. 

"  Yet  we  are  not  unwilliuQ  to  grant  that  Luther 
was  one,  but  not  the  first  of  many,  that  restored 
the  purity  of  the  doctrine,  which  had  been  long 
smothered  by  the  papacy;  our  faith,  if  you  take 
in  the  whole,  is  no  other  but  what  is  exiconized 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  included  in  the.  Scriptures. 
If  you  take  it  in  a  lower  and  straiter  way,  for  so 
much  of  it  as  is  opposed  to  the  corruption  of  Po- 
pery :  you  must  remember,  that  these  points  are 
neither  the  whole  nor  greatest  points  of  faith ; 
there  are  not  any  points  of  our  faith  but  we  are 
able  to  show  they  had  maintainers,  few  or  many, 
in  all  ages  since  the  apostles'  time  ;  and  every 
of  these  ages,  those  substructures  of  Popery  op- 
posed, some  by  one  man,  some  by  another. 

"  I  wonder  therefore  to  see  you  carried  away 
with  that  common  and  trivial  calumny,  that  Lu- 
ther was  the  inventor  of  our  faith  ;  and  why  say 
you,  that  for  the  interval  of  800  years  before 
there  was  no  apparent  profession  of  faith  differ- 
ent from  Rome  ?  and  this  you  collect  by  histori- 
cal search  of  all  the  stories  and  records  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  civil.     It  seems,  Italv  affords  you  no  co 


APPENDIX.  241 

pies  of  our  writers,  else  might  you  see  in  them  a 
list  which  they  carry  out  through  all  these  spa- 
ces, and  shew  you,  that  most  of  our  tenets  have 
had  the  suffrage  of  the  learnedest  of  Rome's  side, 
and  how  many  men  in  the   decursion  of  time 
from   the   ancientest  of  fathers,   have  declared 
themselves,  and  some  of  them  apparently,  yea, 
earnestly  contended  for  the  truth  of  our  doctrine. 
"  And  where  you  object  that  Waldo,WicklifFe, 
and  Huss,  had  scarce  any  r elation  to  the  noic-pro^ 
Jessed  Protestancy  ;  if  you  mean,  because  we  dis- 
claim those  horrid  opinions  which  are  put  upon 
them,  [how  true  God  knows,]   therein  you  say 
truly,  neither  they  to   us,  nor  we  to  them  have 
any  relation ;  but  in  the  main  points  of  doctrine 
touching  faith,  and  opposition  of  the   supersti- 
tions and  usurpation  of  the  Papacy,  we  have  a 
jo3mt  consent  of  all  the  best  writers,  historians, 
and  divines  of  both  sides,  that  they  and  we  con- 
sent in  one. 

"It  is  strange,  therefore,  to  say,  that  these 
[and  we]  had  no  relation  to  the  Protestant  pro- 
fession, who  for  substance  of  relis^ion  held  as  we 
do,  their  errours  onely  we  own  not :  and  the 
consent  of  times  do  all  agree,  that  the  Walden- 
ses  flew  out  against  their  corruptions  400  years 
before  Luther  was  born  ;  nay,  saith  Rynerius, 
quidam  dicunt  quod  secta  ilia  duraverit  a  tempore 
Sylvestri  alii  quod  a  tempore  apostolorum^  deriving 
their  fundamental  doctrine  from  the  time  of  the 

13 


24.2 


APPENDIX. 


apostles :  nor  were  they  few,  sed  imdtijilicati  su^' 
J) er  arenas  maris;  nor  plebeians  onely,  stdjirinci^ 
jpumfavore  aj-mati,  as  the  kings  of  Arragon,  the 
earls  of  Tholouse,  and  many  more.  So  that  there 
are  witnesses  more  than  .sufficient,  that  there 
were  many  who  opposed  themselves  to  the  Pa- 
pacy in  the  Protestant  tenets,  long  before  Lu~ 
ther.  This  [is  the]  first  supposition  failing,  I 
will  now  let  you  see  the  mistakes  in  the  subse- 
quent passages,  and  open  to  you  my  sense,  ho- 
ping yet  that  I  may  draw  you  again  to  me. 

*'  You,  as  you  conceive,  having  shewn  a  defect 
o^  visibility  in  our  Church  till  Luther's  time,  la- 
bour to  prove  a  necessity  of  visibility  to  every 
true  Church.     If  it  were   granted,  that  it  were 
simply  necessa.ry  to  the  essentiating  of  a  Church, 
to  be  able  to  demonstrate  in  all  times,  both  the 
visible  number  of  professours  of  the  truth,  as  al- 
so a  visible  succession  of  pastours,  we  are  able 
to  demonstrate  both  these,  for  our  defence,  to  be 
as  unquestionable  in  our  Church  as  in  the  Church 
of  Rome;  they  that  are  otherwise  minded  will 
account  this  a  bold  undertaking,  but  it  is  no  hard 
matter  to  doe.     Wherefore   the   vanity   of  that 
question,  to  ask  where   our   Church  was  before 
Luther,  becomes  not  any  man   that  hath  read 
anything  or"  our  Church  monuments. 

"  But  you  w^ould  seem  to  me  to  prove  it  two 
ways :  first,  by  the  testimony  of  our  own  di- 
vines ;  secondly,  by  argument. 


APPENDIX.  24B 

**  By  testimonies  of  our  divines  you  would  have 
Doctour  Field,  Doctour  White,  and  Master 
Hooker,  to  confess  needfulness  oi"  visibility  ;  and 
yet,  for  their  own  Church,  fly  to  latency.  For 
this  second  you  instance  Doctour  Whitaker,  and 
Doctour  White,  one  of  them,  to  confess  our 
Church  for  many  ages  to  have  been  in  a  secret  soli^ 
tude :  and  the  other  to  let  go  his  defense  of  visi- 
ble succession  by  ^y/??o-  to  an  invisible  subterfuge 
ofnon-aiiparency.  If3'0u  had  better  perused  the 
tracts  of  those  writers,  they  would  have  given 
you  full  satisfaction  ;  but  you  mistake  both  the 
persons  and  the  points.  These  made  a  demon- 
stration of  those  three  points  ;  first,  that  neither 
the  Church's  obscurity  is  repugnant  to  the  visi^ 
bility  of  it  :  secondly,  nor  the  visibility  of  it  such 
■as  excludes  all  latency.  Nor  yet  the  latency  of 
orthodox  Christians  in  the  swaying  time  of  Po- 
pery, such  as  had  not  requisite  linearaeni"3  of  an 
accountal)le  visibility. 

"  But  5"ou  musi  know,  that  visibility  doth  not 
always  carry  the  same  height,  but  admits  of  de- 
grees, so  that  we  cannot  say  that  that  wants  vis- 
ibility which  hath  it  in  a  lower  degree.  The 
sun,  compared  with  itself,  is  in  a  degree  visible, 
though  in  a  mist,  yet  not  so  clearly  visible  as 
when  it  shines  out  :  so  is  it  with  the  state  of  the 
Church,  because  her  splendour  is  not  in  termino^ 
but  such  as  receives  degrees  by  augmentation  or 
diminution;  like  as  the  sun  is  as  truly  visible 


244  APPEJ^DIX. 

under  a  cloud  as  in  his  brightness,  though  not  SC 
clearty  visible ;  so  not  to  admit  the  Charch  to 
be  visible,  except  she  be  glorious,  is  an  errour;- 
for  there^s  a  variation  of  the  Church's  visibility 
in  respect  of  her  object ,'  tlie  want  of  which  con- 
sideration, I  believe,  is  one  cause  wh}^  so  many 
deceive  themselves  in  this  point.  Secondly^ 
there  is  another  diversity  which  arises  from  the 
visive  or2:ans  ;  some  mav  see  and  v/ill  not ;  there 
the  fault  is  not  in  the  object,  but  in  the  behold- 
ers* Philosophers  say,  Visibilia  non  sunt  minus' 
visihilia  cum  non  videntur,  quant  quando  videntur', 
the  objects  of  sight  remain  still  discernible,  when 
they  are  not  discerned  :  soit  is  with  the  Church, 
there  are  strictures  of  visibility  discernible  in  her 
obscure  condition:  but  it  is  as  visible  non  visumr 
which  falls  out  when  men  w^ill  r±ot  open  their 
eyes,  or  th-ey  shut  them  on  purpose,  w^hich  hap- 
ned  in  the  prevailing  times  of  Popery,  when  this^ 
notwithstanding,  yet  there  were  lights  which  ap- 
peared for  the  defence  of  the  truth,  and  the  dis-- 
covery  of  errour,  in  eveiy  age  of  the  intervall. 

"'But  sure  our  men*  labour  in  vain  to  demon- 
strate that  visibilit}^  whilst  they  of  the  Papacy 
are  so-  disaffected  as  not  to  acknowledge  it  upor^ 
any  terms  ;  otherwise  this  controversie  had  long: 
since  been  ended,  if  thev  had  been  as  well  dis- 
posed  to  see,  as  we  ready  to  show  our  visibility.- 

"  In  this   question  raen  are  to  consider  that 


APPENDIX.  245 

there  is  a  double  splendour  of  the  Church,  which 
makes  wav  for  the  visibility  of  it. 

"  The  proper  splendour  of  a  Church  consists 
in  purity  of  doctrine. 

"  The  common  splendour  of  a  Church  consists 
in  the  outward  accommodations,  which  apper- 
tain not  to  the  being,  but  the  well-being  of  the 
Church,  as  temporal  peace,  multitude  of  profes- 
sours,  local  succession  of  pastours  ;  yet  perse- 
cution may  interrupt  this  succession  of  pastours, 
it  may  cut  off  the  multitude  of  profcssours,  he- 
resie  may  so  far  prevail  as  to  make  the  orthodox 
Church  pull  in  her  head,  witness  the  time  of 
Arianism,  when  few  but  godly  Athanasius,  and 
6ome  with  him,  were  fain  to  keep  in  corners. 
And  of  this  our  divines  are  to  be  understood, 
when  they  speak  of  our  latency,  that  for  this  out- 
ward splendour  it  suffered  a  great  obscurity  for 
divers  hundred  years  ;  yet  when  it  was  at  the 
lowest,  the  doctrine  was  visible,  and  some  pro- 
fessours  still  in  the  eve  of  the  world,  I  would 
wish  you  well  to  consider  things  which  I  shall 
tell  you. 

"  1.  The  state  of  the  Church  is  so  ordered  by 
our  great  master  Christ,  that  she  is  to  expect  her 
times  of  obscurity,  as  well  as  her  times  of 
splendour,  he  hath  made  her  estate  militant,  and 
appointed  her  to  a  passive  condition,  as  well  as 
an  active  :  designed  her  to  vicissitudes  of  obscu- 
rity as  well  as  lustre,  and  shews  her  no  less  glo- 


246  APPENDIX. 

rious  in  her  obscurity  than  in  her  triumph,  as 
Tertullian  saith  of  vertue,  Extruitur  duritJa : 
dcstruitur  moUitia. 

"  2.  This  visibitit}^  represented  by  an  innumer- 
ous  multitude,  local  succession,  secular  estate, 
these  were  not  considered  in  the  first  times, 
when  the  Church  stood  sound,  nor  in  the  latter 
times,  when  she  got  some  recover}^  ;  onely  in 
the  intermediate,  when  she  lay  under  the  cross. 
And  were  these  the  j^robafs  of  faith,  it  had  been 
ill  with  the  Israelites'  Church  in  the  time  of 
Elias  ;  worse  with  the  Apostolical  Church,  when 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees  sate  in  Moses'  chair; 
worse  in  the  time  of  Arianism,  and  in  times  of 
Antichristianism,  which  shall  come,  as  most 
writers  say. 

"3.  This  glorious  succession,  which  Rome  so 
much  brags  of,  is  a  deceit  full  medium  whereby 
to  measure  the  truth  of  a  Church;  because  a 
Church  ma}^  be  a  true  Church  without  it ;  and 
be  also  a  false  Church  with  it.  Non  colligitur 
ibi  necessario  esse  ecclesiam,  ubi  est  successio,  saith 
Bellarmine  ;  though  Stapleton  be  of  another 
mind.  Alexandria  challengeth  succession  as 
well  as  Rome;  the  Church  of  Constantinople 
takes  her  pedigree  from  St.  Andrew  the  apostle, 
and  brings  it  down  to  our  times.  A  false  church 
may  have  succession,  and  a  true  church  may 
want  it  ;  otherwise  you  will  grant  that  Rome  is 
no  true  church  ;  the  chair  at  Rome  hath  some- 


APPENDIX.  247 

times  lain  empty,  sometimes  it  hath  carried 
double,  and  both  of  them  have  been  deposed ; 
these  broken  links  mar  the  chain  of  that  succes- 
sion. But  because  this  rather  concerns  the  per- 
sons, not  the  thing,  it  is  otherwise  to  be  clearly 
shewed,  that  it  may  be  a  true  church  that  hath 
not  this  uninterrupted  succession  :  for  else  no 
church  at  all  could  be  true  in  her  first  planta- 
tion. For  successions  are  bv  descent,  descents 
have  no  place  in  first  originals,  whereas  the  or- 
thodox faidi  doth  the  very  first  day  put  her  in 
possession  of  apostolical  succession,  as  Tertul- 
lian  well  saith,  that  churches  which  have  not 
their  original  descent  from  the  apostles  are  apos- 
tolical, propter  consanguinitatem  doctrince.  The 
place  which  you  cite  out  of  the  fourth  to  the 
Ephesians,  proves  clearly  the  necessity  of  or- 
thodox pastours,  not  of  local  succession ;  you 
may  hereby  see,  how  in  the  informing  of  your- 
self in  this  particular,  you  are  overtaken. 

"  This  thing  also  much  troubles  me,  that  your 
letters  said,,  that  when  you  last  came  back  out 
of  Italy,  3^ou  songht  notJdng  so  attentively  as  satis- 
faction in  these  points  of  controversie,  especially 
that  touching  the  visibility  of  our  Church  in  all 
ages,  but  could  receive  none.  Could  you  never, 
in  all  the  while  of  your  last  being  in  England, 
find  the  time  to  acquaint  me  with  ^^our  desire  ? 
doubtless,  I  must  say,  you  did  in  this  time'  study 


248  APPENDIX. 

tlie    dissimilation    of  yo2ir  intention,  otherwise    I 
must  have  known  it. 

"  I  was  heretofore  more  indulgent  towards 
you,  for   God  knows  it,  Walter,  the  son  of  my 
body  was  never  so  dear  unto  me,  as  the  salva- 
tion of  my   son    Walter's    soul ;  your  younger 
years  can  witness,  how  I  shewed  you  the  way 
which  I  myself  took  to  settle  mine   own  salva- 
tion :  for  though  it  was  my  happiness  to  be  de- 
rived from  virtuous  and  religious  parents,  yet  I 
took  not  my  religion  merely  by  descent,  but  stud- 
ied and  examined  the  ground   on  which  I  was 
to  found  my  faith  ;  I  read  both  Papists  and  Pro- 
testants, I  found  both  confident,  and  contradic- 
tory— Et  quoties  palpitavit  mihi  trenmlum  cor,  be- 
fore I   settled  either  way  ?  sometimes  thinking 
safest  to  mean  well,  and  to  keep  unsettled  either 
way  ;  3^et  I  saw  a  necessity  laid  on  me,  to  be  of 
one  of  the  two  Churches  ;  but  how  to  find  out 
which  of  them  was  the  true  Church,  whereof  I 
must  be  a  member  if  I  w^ould  secure  my  salva- 
tion, liic  labor,  hoc  opus   est:  I  easily  resolved, 
there   was   not  two  Churches  whereof  a  man 
might  choose  w^hich  to   be  of;  and    after  long 
study  I  found  clearly  that  to  be  the  true  Church, 
which  constantly  held  the  common  faith,  which 
faith  had  the  scripture  for  the  rule  ;  this  known 
and  resolved,   which  is  undoubted,  then  I  was 
not  scared  with  that  fearful  censure  of  the  Ro- 


APPENDIX.  249 

man    Church,  which    pronounced    all    damned 
that  are  not  of  th.it  Church. 

"  Buthow  much  anal  distasted  to  Bndseveral 
arguments  made   in  the  letter,  all  to   insinuate 
that  the  Scriptures  are  not  a  competent  rule  of 
faith  ■?  and  first,  variety  of  interpretation  ;  sec- 
ondly, ob-curity  of  some  places;  thirdly,  inau- 
thentickness   of  themselves;  fourthly,  their  au- 
thority dependent    oi'i   the    Church  ;  fifthly,  the 
purity  of  them   warranted    by    the  visibiUty  of 
the    Church  ;  sixthly,   made  authentick  by  the 
Church's  authority  :    strange   assertions  ;  as   if 
the  true  Chui'ch  were  not  to  be  tried  bv  the  true 
faith,  but  the  true  faith  by  the  Church.    I  know 
myself  bouud  to   believe  the    authority  of  that 
Church    which  makes     scripture    the    rule    of 
faith;  but  as  for  the  act  of  any  Church,  though 
it  be  a  fit  ministry  to  show  rne  the  wav,  yet  it  is 
not  of  authority  sufficient  to  itself  to  secure  me 
of  my  salvation  ;  from  true  faith  the  true  Church 
is  inferred,  and  which  is  the  true  Church,  when 
all  is  done,  must  be  tried  by  the  scripture.    But 
it  is  now  with  us,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Chry- 
sostom,  when  there  was  so  much  question  which 
was  the  true  Church,  and  men  were  of  so  many 
different  opinions  about   it,  as  none  could  tell 
what    Church  to   be  of,   or  what    religion  was 
safest  to  trust   to;    so  saith    the  father    of  the 
scriptures,  which  in  matters  of  faith  necessary 
to  salvation  speak  so  truly,  so  fuUv,  so  plainly, 

13* 


250  APPENDIX. 

as  it  is  but  a  shift  for  a  man  to  say  he  under- 
stands  them  not;  and  good  St.  Austinc  finding, 
that  from  controversies  in  religion  there  came  no 
other  fruit  but  indeterminata  luctatio,  said  with 
sorrow,  why  do  we  strive  about  our  father's 
will?  Nos  sumus  fratrcs,  and  our  father  is  not 
dead  intestate,  but  hath  left  his  will  and  testa- 
ment in  writing  :  let  it  be  followed,  and  all  con- 
troversies will  soon  be  ended. 

"  Flatter  not  yourself,  Walter  ;  the  remon- 
strance you  make  shows  that  the  resignation  you 
made  of  yourself  to  the.  Church  of  Rome  was 
jprecipitate,  and  then  the  rcsolutioro  to  live  and  die 
there,  desperate  ;  yet  you  give  some  hopes  when 
you  say,  nor  do  you  now  so  desperately  j)rofess,  as 
if  it  were  your  fortune'' s  legacy,  for  you  do  not  be- 
lieve it  so  dangerous  hut  it  may  recover.  The  king's 
benignity  and  goodness  is  always  to  interpret  the 
best ;  but  know,  that  his  Majesty  hath  a  better 
opinion  of  those  who  are  bred  such,  than  of 
those  who  become  such  by  relapse.  Nor  am  I 
willing  to  apprehend  any  change  of  your  duty; 
yet  take  this  for  a  caveat  that  commonly  all 
changes  follow  change  of  faith.  I  never  travel- 
led of  vou  till  now,  and  it  is  with  a  o:reat  deal 
of  pain.  I  thought  you  should  have  wept  over 
me,  when  nature  had  called  for  her  due  ;  but 
you  have  prevented  me.  And  3''et  my  son,  you 
may  yet  return  to  me  ;  but  I  shall  never  go  to 
you  in  this  way,  nor  had  I  ever  gone  so  far  into 


APPENDIX.  251 

this  question,  but  to  fetch  you  again,  m}^  son, 
otherwise  a  lost  child. 

"  Thus,  as  your  letter  began,  so  do  I  end  ; 
nfter  much  debate  concerning  a  Jit  ex2)ression  of 
myself,  whether  it  was  better,  by  not  w^riting, 
to  show  my  dislike,  or  by  long  writing,  to  labour 
your  recovery  ;  this  last  was  most  satisfactory  to 
my  conscience,  though  the  other  more  agreeable 
to  nature  displeased.  I  have  therefore  resolved, 
as  you  see,  to  give  you  this  answer  ;  and  I  pray 
God  that  he  may  bless  you  and  me  so  in  it,  that 
my  pen  may  have  tha  fruit  my  heart  wishes. 
"  Your  lovins:  Father, 

"  Manchester." 


No.  II. 

ANCIENT  CHURCHES  OF  THE  VAUDOIS,  AND  SYRO- 
CHRISTIANS  IN  INDIA. 

The  Roman  Catholics  insist  on  visibilitij,  as  one 
of  the  proofs  of  a  true  Church,  and  therefore 
object  against  Protestants  the  concealment  of 
their  Church  for  so  many  hundred  years,  dcty- 
ing  them  to  produce  any  thing  like  a  visible 
Church  beyond  the  da3^s  of  Peter  Waldo,  who 
commenced  his  opposition  to  the  errors  of  Po- 


2-52  APPENDIX. 

pery  about  a.d.  1160,  and  according  to  Popish 
writers  founded  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses,  or 
Vaudois.  The  Rev.  W.  S.  Gilty,  in  his  inter- 
estino^  researches  amono  these  Protestants  of 
the  Cottian  Alps,  has  shown  most  satisfactorily 
that  so  far  from  Waldo  being  the  founder  of 
their  Church,  they  existed,  as  a  distinct  bod}'', 
certainl}^  as  far  back  as  the  year  828,  or  accord- 
ing to  some  writers  even  from  the  days  of  the 
Apostles,  and  have  ever  since  continued  to  pro- 
fess a  pure  faith,  and  to  resist  every  attempt 
made  upon  their  Church  by  the  emissaries  of 
Rome.  Here  then  we  find  a  large  body  of 
Christians,  the  pure  light  of  whose  faith  shone 
in  the  darkest  times  of  Popish  corruption,  and 
has  been  preserved  ever  since  without  the 
slightest  admixture  of  anv  one  of  the  novel  in- 
troductions  of  Poper\^  But  we  have  a  still 
more  striking  and  interesting  proof  of  the  suc- 
cessive  visibility  of  the  Protestant  Churchy  from  the 
earliest  age  of  Christianity,  in  the  discovery  of 
the  Syro-Christian  Church  in  the  South  of  In- 
dia, whose  history,  coupled  with  that  of  the 
Vaudois,  most  fullv  assures  us  that  there  has 
never  been  a  time  when  some  branch  of  the 
true  vine,  independent  of  Rome,  has  not  flour- 
ished on  the  earth  ;  so  that  let  Romanists  insist 
as  much  as  they  please  on  tlie  argument  of  visi- 
biliiv,  it  recoils  on  their  own  head,  and  leaves 
Protestants  in  the  clear  possession  of  the  ancient 


APPENDIX.  253 

and  true  faith.  The  existence  of  these  Syro- 
Christians,  as  an  ancient  and  pure  Church,  is  a 
fact  so  much  to  our  purpose,  that  we  shall  be 
pardoned  for  introducing  the  notice  of  their  dis- 
covery and  history,  as  recorded  in  the  interest- 
ing Christian  Researches  of  Dr.  Buchanan. 

"  The  Syrian  Christians  inhabit  the  interior 
of  Travancore  and  Malabar,  in  the  South  of  In- 
dia, and  have  been  settled  there  from  the  early 
ages  of  Christianity.  The  first  notices  of  this 
ancient  people  in  recent  times,  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Portuguese  histories.  When  Vasco  de 
Gama  arrived  at  Cochin,  on  the  coast  of  Mala- 
bar, in  1503,  he  saw  the  sceptre  of  the  Chris- 
tian king;  for  the  Syrian  Christians  had  former- 
ly regal  power  in  Mala^^ala. 

"  When  the  Portuguese  arrived,  the}^  were 
agrecabh'  surprised  to  find  upwards  of  100 
Christian  churches  on  the  coast  of  Malabar.  But 
when  they  became  acquainted  with  the  pu?'ity 
and  simjyiicitij  of  their  worship,  they  were  offend- 
ed. '  These  churches,'  said  the  Portuguese, 
'  belong  to  the  Pope.'  '  Who  is  the  Pope  V 
said  the  natives  :  '  We  never  heard  of  hini.^ 

"  The  European  priests  were  yet  more 
alarmed,  when  they  found  that  these  Hindoo 
Christians  maintained  the  order  and  discipline  of 
a  regular  Church,  under  episcopal  jurisdiction  ; 
and  that  for  1300  years  past,  they  had  enjoyed 
a  succession  of  bishops  appointed  by  the  Patri- 


254  APPENDIX. 

archs  of  Antioch.  '  JVe,^  said  they,  '  are  of  the 
true  faith,  whatever  you  from  the  West  may  be  ; 
for  we  come  from  the  place  where  the  followers 
of  Christ  were  first  called  Christians/ 

"  When  the  power  of  the  Portuguese  became 
sufficient  for  their  purpose,  they  invaded  these 
tranquil  churches,  seized  some  of  the  clergy, 
and  devoted  them  to  tlie  death  of  heretics.  Then 
the  inhabitants  heard,  for  the  first  time,  that  there 
was  a  place  called  the  Inquisition,  and  that  its 
fires  had  been  lighted  at  Goa,  near  their  own 
land.  But  the  Portuguese  finding  that  the  peo- 
ple were  resolute  in  defending  their  ancient 
faith,  began  to  try  more  conciliatory  measures. 
Nevertheless,  ihey  seized  the  Syrian  bishop. 
Mar  Joseph,  and  sent  him  prisoner  to  Lisbon, 
and  then  convened  a  synod  at  one  of  the  Syrian 
churches,  called  Diamper,  near  Cochin,  at  which 
the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  Menezes  presi- 
ded. At  this  compulsor}^  synod  150  of  the  Sy- 
rian clergy  appeared.  They  were  accused  of 
the  following  practices  and  opinions  : — that  they 
had  married  wives,  that  they  owned  but  two  Sacra- 
ments, Baj)tism  and  the  Lordh  Siqijjer  ;  that  they 
neither  invoked  saints^  nor  worshipped  images,  nor 
Relieved  in  purgatory  ;  and  that  they  had  no  other 
orders  or  names  of  digriity  in  the  Church  than  priest 
and  deacon. 

"  These  tenets  they  were  called  on  to  abjure, 
or  to  suffer  suspension  from  all  church  benefices. 


APPEXDIX.  255 

It  was  also  agreed  that  all  the  Syrian  books,  on 
ecclesiastical  subjects,  that  could  be  found, 
should  be  burnt ;  iu  order,  said  the  inquisitors, 
that  no  pretended  apostolical  monuments  may 
remain. 

"  The  churches  on  these  coasts  were  thus 
compelled  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the 
Pope ;  but  they  refused  to  pra}"  in  Latin,  and  in- 
sisted on  retainino^  their  own  lans^uao-e  and  Lit- 
urgy.  This  poijit, 'they  S3.id,  they  would  only  give 
up  with  their  lives.  The  Pope  compromised  the 
matter  with  them. 

"  The  churches  in  the  interior  would  not 
yield  to  Rome.  After  a  show  of  submission  for 
a  little  while,  the}^  proclaimed  eternal  war 
against  the  inquisition ;  they  hid  their  books, 
and  fled  to  the  mountains." 

Here,  then,  from  distant  quarters  of  the 
globe  are  witnesses  of  unquestionable  authority 
to  the  fact,  that  Protestantism  is  no  novelty,  but 
the  only  representative  of  the  true  and  ancient  faith 
in  the  world. 

These  Syro-Christians  agree  so  entirely  with 
the  Church  of  Enoland  in  fundamental  doc- 
trines,  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  a  union 
between  the  two  Churches  will  be  effected  be- 
fore long. 


256  APPENDIX. 


No.  III. 

THE     ANCIENT     UNIVERSITIES    OF    ENGLAND    NOT 
OF    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    FOUNDATION. 

The  antiquity,  apostolicity,  and  independence 
of  the  Church  of  England  having,  it  is  hoped  on 
sufficient  ground,  been  fully  established,  it  will 
not  be  considered  as  irrelevant  to  the  subject,  if 
a  further  point  of  history,  very  closely  connect- 
ed with  the  Protestantism  of  the  British  Church, 
and  on  that  account  greatly  misrepresented  by 
Romanists,  is  cleared  of  the  error  with  which  it 
has  been  invested.  This  may  be  done  in  a  few 
words. 

It  is  gravely  asserted  by  Roman  Catholics, 
and  hastily  credited  by  thoughtless  Protestants, 
that  our  English  universities  owe  their  founda- 
tion to  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and 
it  is  urged  against  those  venerable  bodies,  as 
instances  of  most  unpardonable  intolerance,  and 
cruellest  injustice,  that  they  should  now  close 
their  doors  against  Papists  and  Dissenters,  con- 
sidering that  these  seats  of  learning  have  been 
unjustly  wrested  from  the  hands  of  their  origi- 
nal popish  founders.  This,  however,  is  one  oth- 
er of  those  miserable  fallacies,  which  is,  with 
such  mischievous  industrv,  circulated  through 
the  land,  and  from  the   high  quarter  whence  it 


APPENDIX.  257 

has  been  propagated  of  late,*  is  likely  to  effect 
the  destructive  object  in  view,  if  suffered  to  re- 
main uncontradicted. 

The  history  of  our  universities  is  the  history 
of  our  ancient  Catholic  Church,  with  which  the 
connexion  has  ever  been  so  close  and  indissolu- 
ble, that  the  one  has  almost  invariably  flourish- 
ed or  decayed  with  the  growth  or  the  decline  of 
the  other. 

To  limit  their  foundation  to  Roman  Catholic 
times,  would  be  to  blot  out  many  brilliant  pages 
of  their  ancient  history ;  for,  like  the  British 
Church  herself,  these  venerable  seats  of  the  mu- 
ses can  trace  their  origin  to  very  remote  periods, 
and  were  even  celebrated  as  schools  of  science 
at  times  far  removed  from  the  first  establishment  of 
Popery  in  England, 

We  will  take  the  university  of  Oxford, 
whose  records  have  been  better  preserved  than 
those  of  Cambridge,  in  proof  of  what  we  now 
assert.  Without  pretending  to  claim  for  her  the 
honor  of  having  been  founded,  as  some  authors 
declare,  immediately  after  the  siege  of  Troy, 
there  is  ground  for  believing  that  her  foundation 
was  first  laid  by  Arviragus,  a  British  king,  about 
A.  D.  70,  and  therefore  very  soon  after  the  Gos- 
pel was  planted  in  Britain.     Camden,  a  writer 

*  Vide  Dr.  Baine's  Circular,  lately  addressed  to  Protestants, 
soliciting  subscriptions  towards  rebuilding  the  mansion  of  Prior 
Park. 


258  APPENDIX. 

of  the  best  authority,  asserts  on  the  testimony  of 
the  most  ancient  and  credible  records,  that  "  the 
wisdom  of  our  ancestors,  as  appears  in  our  his- 
tory, consecrated,  even  in  the  British  times,  this 
city  to  the  muses,  translating  them  from  Greek- 
lade  (now  Cricklade)  hither,  as  to  a  more  fruit- 
ful nursery.'' 

Alexander  Necham  also,  referring  to  times 
long  antecedent  to  the  arrival  of  St.  Augustin, 
says  that  "  agreeably  also  to  Merlin's  prophe- 
cy, wisdom  also  and  learning  have  long  flo2irished 
at  the  Ford  of  Oxen  (Oxford),  and  will  in  due 
time  pass  over  into  Ireland." 

The  Saxons  who  invaded  England,  a.d.  449, 
in  their  blind  zeal  for  destroying  every  trace  of 
Christianity,  with  the  churches  burnt  and  pilla- 
ged also  the  universities ;  so  that  on  Alfred's 
succeeding  to  the  throne,  and  witnessing  the  de- 
plorable state  of  learning  in  the  land,  he  under- 
took the  laudable  work  of  rebuilding  and  restor- 
ing the  university  of  Oxford,  which  had,  during 
the  troubled  times  preceding,  fallen  into  great 
decay. 

John  Rous,  of  Warwick,  another  famous  his- 
torian, says,  that  "he  (Alfred)  established  with- 
in this  city,  at  his  own  expense,  three  teachers 
of  grammar,  arts,  and  divinity;"  and  Camden, 
whom  we  have  before  quoted,  more  particularly 
informs  us,  that  "when  the  storm  of  the  Danish 
war  was  over,"  he  restored  their  retreats  to  the 


APPENDIX.  259 

long-exiled  muses ;  and  founded  three  colleges, 
one  for  grammarians,  another  for  philosophy, 
and  a  third  for  divinity.*  Up  to  this  period  the 
Romish  party  in  England  appear  to  have  in  no 
way  interfered  with  this  celebrated  university. 
Unfortunately,  in  his  zeal  for  learning,  Alfred 
about  this  time  induced  many  learned  Ro- 
man Catholics  to  come  over  to  England  and  set- 
tie  themselves  at  Oxford — and  among  others 
was  St.  Grymbald.  The  consequence  of  this 
introduction  of  foreis^n  scholars  was  fatal  to  the 
peace  and  quiet  of  the  university  ;  and  yet  by 
its  issue  proves  most  satisfactorily  to  us,  that 
down  to  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  the 
university  of  Oxford  was  clear  of  all  connexion 
with  and  submission  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 
This  will  appear  more  clearly  from  the  follow- 
ing curious  event,  that  happened  at  no  long  time 
after  the  arrival  of  the  learned  foreis'ners.  The 
particulars  are  related  by  Camden,  and  were  de- 
rived by  him  from  the  ancient  annals  of  the 
monastery  of  Winchester. 

"In  the  year  of  our  Lord  806,  in  the  second 
year  of  St.  Grimbald's  coming  over  into  England, 
the  university  of  Oxford  was  founded  (restored) ; 
the  first  regents  there,  and  readers  in  divinity, 
were  St.  Neot,  an  abbot  and  eminent  professor 
of  theology,  and  St.  Grimbald,  an  eloquent  and 

*  vide  Caiudeii,  Bishop  Gibdon'b  Trauslation,.  vol.  ii.  p.  303. 
fol.  ed. 


260  APPENDIX. 

most  excellent  interpreter  of  the  H.  Seriptures. 
Grammer  and  rhetorick  were  taught  by  Asserius, 
a  monk,  a  man  of  extraordinary  learning ;  logick, 
musick,  and  arithmetick,  were  read  by  John, 
monk  of  St.  David's  ;  geometry  and  astronomy 
were  professed  by  John,  a  monk  and  colleague 
of  St.  Grimbald,  a  man  of  a  sharp  wit  and  im- 
mense knowledge.  These  lectures  were  often 
honoured  with  the  presence  of  the  most  illus- 
trous  and  invincible  monarch  King  ^Elfred, 
whose  memory  to  every  judicious  taste  shall  be 
always  sweeter  than  honey." 

*'Soon  after  this,"  according  to  Asser,  "there 
arose  a  sharp  and  grievous  dissention  between 
Grymbold  and  those  learned  men  whom  he 
brou2:ht  hither  with  him,  and  ihe  old  scholars 
whom  he  found  here  at  his  coming  ;  for  these  abso- 
lutely refused  to  comply  with  the  statutes^  institutions^ 
and  forms  of  readings  'prescrihcd  by  Grymbold. 
The  difference  proceeded  to  no  great  height  for 
the  space  of  three  years,  yet  there  was  always 
a  private  grudge  and  enmity  between  them, 
which  soon  after  broke  out  with  the  greatest 
violence  imaginable.  To  appease  these  tumults, 
the  most  invincible  King  iElfred,  being  informed 
of  the  faction  by  a  message  and  complaint  from 
Grymbold,  came  to  Oxford  with  design  to  ac- 
commodate matters,  and  submitted  to  a  great 
deal  of  pains  and  patience  "to  hear  the  cause 
and  complaint  of  both  parties.     The  controver- 


APPENDIX.  261 

gie  depended  upon  this  :  the  old  scholars  main- 
tauied,  that  before  the  coming  oj  Grymbold  to 
Oxford,  learning  did  here  flourish^  though  the 
students  were  then  less  in  number  than  they 
had  formerly  been,  by  reason  that  very  many 
of  them  had  been  expelled  by  the  cruel  tyranny 
of  Pagans.  They  further  declared  and  proved, 
and  this  by  the  undoubted  testimony  of  their  an- 
cient annals,  that  good  orders  and  constitutions 
for  the  government  of  that  place  had  been  made 
before  by  men  of  great  piety  and  learning,  such 
as  Gildas,  Melkin,  Ninnius,  Kentigern,  and 
others,  who  had  there  prosecuted  their  studies 
even  to  old  age,  and  managed  all  things  happily 
with  peace  and  quiet :  and  that  St.  German 
coming  to  Oxford,  and  residing  there  half  a.  year, 
what  time  he  went  through  all  England  to  preach 
down  the  Pelagian  heresy,  did  exceedi}igly  ap- 
pi'ove  of  their  rules  and  orders.  Tlie  King,  with 
incredible  humilit}^,  and  great  attention,  heard 
out  both  parties,  earnestly  exhorting  them,  with 
pious  and  heaUng  entreaties,  to  preserve  love 
and  amity  with  one  another.  Upon  this  he  left 
them,  in  hopes  that  both  parties  would  follow 
his  advice,  and  obey  his  instructions.  But 
Grymbold,  resenting  these  proceedings,  retired 
immediately  to  the  monastery  at  Winchester, 
which  King  ^Elfred  had  lately  founded :  and 
soon  after  he  got  his  tomb  to  be  removed  thither 
to  him,  in  which   he  had    designed    his  bones 


262  APPENDIX. 

should  be  put  after  his  decease.  This  was  in  a 
vault  under  the  chancel  of  the  church  of  St» 
Peter's  in  Oxford  ;  which  church  the  said  Grym- 
bold  had  raised  from  the  ground,  of  stones  hewn 
and  carved  with  great  art  and  beauty." 

An  excellent  writer,  under  the  signature  of 
Britannicus,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Church 
of  England  its  own  Witness,"  has  brought  for- 
ward the  same  account  of  the  matter  from  Cam- 
den, and  has  drawn  his  conclusions  from  the 
narrative  in  a  manner  so  much  to  the  present 
purpose,  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote 
his  own  words. 

"We  have  thus,"  he  sa3^?,  ^^  the  most  widoubt- 
ed  evidence,  that  the  origin  of  our  universities  is 
independent  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  that  they 
are  clearly  identified  with  the  ancient  British 
and  Apostolical  Church,  and  that  they  must 
have  existed  at  least  500  years  before  the  Church 
of  Rome  visited  our  shores? 

"From  Alfred's  decision,  it  is  evident  that 
the  three  colleges  he  founded  were  given  to  the 
earhj  proprietors — the  representatives  Gildas, 
Melkinnus,  and  Kentigern,  wdio  were  Church  of 
England  men,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  desig- 
nation. And  it  is  manifest,  that  whatever  pow- 
er the  Church  of  Rome  afterwards  exercised  in 
the  universities,  was  not  an  original  right,  but 
acquired    b}^  artifice,  or  usurped    by  violence. 

At  the  Reformation,  the  universities  and  the 


APPENDIX.  363 

revenue  reverted  back  to  their  proper  owners — 
to  men  who  were  the  legitimate  representatives 
of  the  ancient  British  Church,  and  the  true  suc- 
cessors of  those  primitive  men,  Gildas  and  Ken- 
tigern,  by  whom  they  were  founded  and  institut- 
ed. 

"Should  it  be  urged,  notwithstanding,  that 
some  of  the  colleges  were  founded  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  it  does  not 
form  any  solid  objection  to  the  argument.  They 
were  founded  on  the  ancient  Jjasis,  and  without  a 
legal  title;  and  what  is  more,  during  a  time  of 
usurpation.  Under  such  circumstances,  restitu- 
tion can  neither  be  demanded  nor  given.  It 
w^ould  be  just  as  rational  to  insist,  that  whatever 
wealth  or  accession  of  territory  accrued  to  the 
Crown,  during  the  usurpation  of  Cromwell,  be- 
lonofed  and  should  have  been  restored  to  the 
usurping  party.  No.  Usurpation  itself  is  a 
crime  ;  and  the  least  punishment  that  can  be 
awarded  is,  that  it  should  be  mulcted  to  the  ex- 
tent of  its  unjustly  acquired  booty. 

"The  present  Church  of  England,  and  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  are  clear- 
ly  identified  for  at  least  fifteen  hundred  years  ! 
Their  league  is  ancient — their  union  is  complete 
• — their  interests  inseparable.  And  does  it  now 
require  a  debate  in  the  British  Parliament  to 
decide,  whether  these  ancient  institutions  shall 
remain  in  the  same  relation  to  cacli  other,  and 


264  Al*I*EiNDl5t* 

descend  to  our  posterity  in  the  same  wholesome 
integrity  in  which  they  have  been  handed  down 
to  ourselves  ?  It  is  disgraceful  enough  that  it 
should  have  formed  the  subject  of  dispute  ;  but 
it  must  proceed  no  further,  if  reason  and  justice 
are  yet  to  reign  in  the  councils  of  Britain  !'' 


No.  IV. 

A  Protestant's  reasons  for  the2  indepen- 
dence AND  protestantism  OF  THE  ANCIENT^ 
BRITISH  CHtJRCH. 

1.  St.  Peter  possessed  no  supremacy  over  the 
rest  of  the  apostles  ;  therefore  the  Church  of 
Britain,  established  by  St.  Paul,  was  inde- 
pendent of  St.  Peter. 

2.  St.  Paul  says  of  himself,  that  he  had  the 
care  of  all  the  Churches  of  his  own  founda- 
tion ;  and  therefore  the  Church  of  Britain 
was  dependent  on  him,  and  not  on  Peter. 

3.  The  bishopric  of  Rome  was  established  joint- 
ly by  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter,  after  St.  Paul's 
return  from  Britain ;  and  therefore  the 
Church  of  Britain  was  prior  to,  and  indepen- 
dent of,  the  Church  of  Rome. 

4.  The  Church  of  Britain  was  established  be^ 


APPENDIX.  265 

fore  the  bishop  of  Rome  had  any  authority 
beyond  his  own  diocese,  and  therefore  was 
independent  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

5.  In  the  fourth  centurv  Jerome  declared  the 
Cnurch  of  Rome  and  Britain  to  be  "ejusdem 
meriti  ei  sacerdotii,"  of  the  same  condition, 
and  merit,  and  pastoral  authority. 

6.  The  Church  of  Britain  was  subsisting  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  century,  when  Britain  ceased 
to    be  a   part  of  the  Roman  empire  ;    and 
therefore  was  independent  of  the  Church  of 
Rome. 

7.  The  bishop  of  Rome  derived  the  title  and 
power  of  universal  bishop  from  an  emperor 
in  the  seventh  century ;  and  therefore  the 
Church  of  Britain  was  independent  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  prior  to  the  existence  of 
such  power. 

8.  The  bishop  of  Rome  attempted  to  establish  a 
spiritual  jurisdiction  over  the  Church  of  Brit- 
ain in  the  seventh  century,  which  the  Brit- 
ish bishops  indignantly  rejected  ;  and  there- 
fore the  Church  of  Britain  was  independent 
of  the  Church  of  Rome. 


14 


266 


APPENDIX. 


A  llOMAN  catholic's  REASONS  WHY  HE  CANNOT 
CONFORM  TO  THE  PROTESTANT  RELIGION. 


ROMAN'  CATHOLIC  REASONS. 

BecausG  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion is  a  new  religion,  whicli 
had  no  being  in  the  world  till 
1 500  years  after  Christ  ;  and 
therefore  it  comes  1500  years 
too  late  to  be  the  true  Church 
of  Christ.  Martin  Luther  laid 
the  first  foundation  of  the  Pro- 
tootant  religion,  A.  D.  1517. 


II.  Because  the  Protestant  reh- 
gion  cannot  be  true,  except 
the  whole  Scripture,  both  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end, 
be  false,  which  in  so  many 
places  assures  us  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  shall  never 
go  astray.  For  everj'-  one 
kjiows,  that  the  Protestant 
religion  pretends  to  be  a 
Reformation  of  the  Chiu-ch 
of  Christ. 

III.  Because  the  fii-st  founda- 
tions of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion were  laid  by  an  insup- 
poi-table  pride  in  one  man, 
viz.  Luther. 


IV.  Because    Luther    and    the 
first    ProtestantSj   when   they 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  REASONS 
ANSWERED. 

I.  The  religion  of  Protestants  in 
this  United  Kingdom  is  not  a 
new  religion,  but  is  as  old  as 
the  days  of  St.  Paul,  who 
preached  it  and  established 
it  in  Britain.  The  Church  of 
Britain  was  fully  established 
before  the  Church  of  Eome. 
M.  Luther  did  not  lay  the  first 
foimdation  of  the  Protestant 
religion.  The  Church  of  Bri- , 
tain  protested  against  the  su- 
perstition and  idolatiy  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  would 
hold  no  communion  \^'ith  it, 
as  early  as  the  beginning  of 
the  seventh  century. 

II.  The  Protestant  religion  does 
not  pretend  to  be  a  Reforma- 
tion  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
but  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  Scriptures  nowhere  say 
that  the  Church  of  Rome  shall 
not  go  astray.  The  Church 
of  Rome  has  undoubtedly 
greatly  gone  astray  by  idola- 
try in  the  invocation  of  saints, 
and  by  the  suppression  of  half 
of  the  eucharist  in  refusing  the 
cup  to  the  laity,  &c. 

III.  The  religion  of  Protestants 
in  this  United  Kmgdom,  as 
was  obser\'ed  before,  is  coeval 
with  St.  Paul.  But  the  first 
Protest  against  the  Church  of 
Rome  Avas  made  by  the  Bri- 
tish Bishops  of  the  seventh 
century. 

IV.  Protestants  beheve  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  by  be= 


APPENDIX. 


267 


began  to  set  up  their  new  re- 
ligion and  disclaimed  the  au- 
thority and  doctrine  of  all 
churches  then  upon  earth, 
could  not  say  the  Creed  witli- 
out  telling  a  lie,  when  they 
came  to  that  article,  "I  be- 
lieve in  the  Hely  Catholic 
Church,  the  Communion  of 
Samts." 


V.  Because  the  Protestant 
Chui'ch  has  not  those  marlis 
by  which  tiie  Nicene  Creed 
directs  us  to  the  true  Churcli 
of  Christ.  It  is  not  one  holy, 
Catholic,  and  Apostolical 

1.  It  is  not  one,  becarise  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the  pre- 
tended Reformation  are  di- 
vided from  one  another  in 
faith  and  commmiion. 

2.  Their  Church  is  not  holy; 
neither  in  her  doctrine,  nor 
in  the  lives  either  of  her  first 
teachers  or  of  their  followers. 

3.  Their  Church  is  not  Catholic 
— they  are  sensible  this  name 
belongs  not  to  them,  and 
therefore  they  have  taken  to 
themselves  another  name ; 
viz.  that  of  Protestants — and 
indeed,  how  should  their 
Church  be  Catholic  or  Uni- 
versal, which  implies  being  in 
all  ages,  and  in  all  nations  ; 
since  it  had  no  being  for  fif- 
teen ages,  and  is  unknown  in 
most  nations. 

4.  Their  Church  is  not  Aposto- 
lical, since  it  neither  was 
founded  by  any  of  the  apos- 
tles, nor  has  any  succession 
of  doctrine,  communion,  or 
lawful  mission. 


lieving  that  the  Universal 
Church  of  Christ  is  one  Holy 
Catholic  Church.  They  be- 
lieve in  this  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  through  they  do  not 
believe  the  Church  of  Rome 
to  bo  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ.  They  believe  in  the 
Communion  of  Saints,  though 
they  do  not  ascribe  to  them 
the  attribute  of  Omnipresence 
hy  praying  to  them. 
V.  There  is  no  Church  called 
the  Protestant  Church.  There 
are  diflerent  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Chn.st  protesting 
against  the  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  such  as  the 
Lutheran  Church  and  the 
Church  of  England.  The 
Universal  Church  of  Christ  is 
one  holy,  Catholic,  and  Apos- 
tolical;  but  the  before-men- 
tioned branches  of  this  Church 
do  not  pretend  to  be  the  whole 
Church  of  Christ.  Yet  they 
are  one  with  the  Universal 
Chr.rch,  as  the  disciples  of 
Christ  are  one  with  Clirisl — 
they  are  holy,  as  being  parts 
of  that  which  is  holy — they 
are  Catholic,  as  being  parts  of 
the  Church  Universal — and 
they  are  Apostolical,  because 
they  are  founded  on  the  doc- 
trine and  discipline  of  the 
Apostles.  The  Church  of 
Britain  is  eminently  Apostoli- 
cal, having  been  founded  and 
established  by  St.  Paul.  Pro- 
testants are  Catholic,  as  being 
members  of  the  Church  Uni- 
versal. They  do  not  cease  to 
be  Catholic,  because  they  pro- 
test against  the  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  hov»-ever 
improperly  the  term  Catholic 
may  be  used  by  Papists,  and 


268 


APPENDIX. 


VI.  Because  Luther  was  the 
first  preacher  of  the  Protest- 
ant religion. 

VII.  Because  the  first  steps  to- 
wards introducing  the  Pro- 
testant religion  into  England 
were  made  by  Henry  VIII. 

VIII.  Because  Protestancy  was 
settled  upon  its  present  bot- 
tom in  this  kingdom  by  Act 
of  Parliament,  in  the  first 
year  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
How  then  can  it  be  called 
the  Church  cf  England,  or 
any  Church  at  all,  seeing  it 
was  introduced  and  estabhshed 
by  the  authority  of  mere  lay- 
men in  opposition  to  the 
Church  1 


IX.  Because  there  is  not  so 
much  religion  among  Protest- 
ants as  among  Catholics  ;  no 
extraordinary  sanctity,  no  re- 
nunciation of  worldly  goods, 
no  houses  consecrated  to  re- 
tirement, &c. 


X.  Because    we    alone 
the  name  of  Catholic. 


inherit 


even  by  Gome  Protestants  as 
opposed  to  the  term  Protest- 
ant. 

VI.  Luther  lived  900  years 
after  the  first  protest  of  the 
British  Church  against  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

VII.  Answered  in  Nos.  1,  3,  6, 


VIII.  Protestantism  was rcs<orc<2 
and  re-established  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth.  But  the 
British  Church  protested  more 
than  900  years  before  that 
time.  Popish  writers  have  a 
very  imperfect  notion  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  The  Church 
does  not  consist  merely  of 
bishops  and  the  clergy,  but  of 
the  whole  body  of  believers  in 
Christ,  who  observe  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ ^and  his  apos- 
tles. The  Parliament  of  Eliz- 
abeth did  not  at  all  interfere 
with  the  Church,  but  only 
with  the  Church  Establish- 
ment. It  restored  to  the  Crown 
"the  ancient  jurisdiction  over 
the  state  ecclesiastical,and  abo- 
lished all  foreign  powers  re- 
pugnant to  the  same." 

IX.  Protestants  believe  that 
there  is  more  real  sanctity  in 
an  innocent,  virtuous,  charita- 
ble, and  useful  hfe,  spent  in 
the  busiest  society  of  our  fel- 
low-creatures, than  in  the 
most  rigid  and  painful  aus- 
terities of  solitude. 

X.  The  Church  of  Rome  is  not 
the  Catholic  Church,  but  only 
a  part  of  it.  All  Christians 
are  Catholics,  who  adhere  to 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  having  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism. 


APPENDIX. 


269 


XI.  Because  even  in  the  judg- 
ment of  Protestants,  we  must 
be  on  the  safer  side. 


XII.  Because  the  Protestant 
religion  encourages  Protect- 
ants, by  the  doctrine  of  Jus- 
tification by  faith  alone,  to  be 
no  ways  solicitous  for  redeem- 
ing their  past  sins,  by  good 
works  and  penitential  aus- 
terities. 

XIII.  Because  the  Protestant 
rehgion  can  aflford  no  cer- 
tainty in  matters  of  faith. — 
Abridged  from  a  Tract  by 
Bishop  Challoner. 


XI.  Protestants  do  not  allow 
the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  on 
the  safer  side.  They  consider 
the  Invocation  of  Saints,  and 
bnu:ing  down  before  images, 
to  be  acts  of  idolatry':  and 
they  believe  that  persons 
guilty  of  idolatry  are  in  a 
very  dangerous  state. 

XII.  Protestants  believe  that  in 
the  blood  of  Christ  ahrie  is  re- 
demption from  past  sins  ;  that 
good  works  are  necessary  to 
salvation  ;  but  that  otu*  best 
works  are  only  stifficient  for 
our  duties,  and  cannot  do 
away  a  single  sin  that  is  past. 

XIII.  Protestants  believe  that 
nothing  can  be  more  certain 
than  the  truths  contained  in 
the  three  creeds,  and  that  in 
those  plain  words  of  Scrip- 
ture,— "  If  thou  wilt  enter 
into  life,  keep  the  Command- 
ments,"— "  this  do  and  thou 
shalt  live," — "  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved," — "forgive, 
£Lnd  thou  shalt  be  forgiven," 
— "  whatsoever  ye  wotild  that 
men  should  do  unto  you,  even 
BO  do  unto  them" — we  have 
infaUible  directions  for  our 
faith  and  conduct,  which  re- 
quire no  confirmation,  and 
can  receive  no  light  from 
popes  or  councils. 


270 


APPENDIX. 


No.  V. 

DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE  CHURCHES  OF  ENG- 
LAND AND  OF  ROME. 


ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 

I.  Papists  acknowledge  the 
Pope  to  be  the  Supreme 
Head  of  the  whole  Christian 
Church,  and  with  the  Church 
to  be  infallible. 

II.  Papists  bow  down  to  the 
host,  and  to  images. 


III.  Papists  pray  to  departed 
saints  for  their  protection,  and 
intercession  with  God. 

IV.  Papists  believe  that  the  ele- 
ments of  bread  and  wine  in 
the  eucharist  are  converted 
into  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  Clu'ist. 

V.  Papists  believe  this  conver- 
sion of  the  elements  to  be 
effected  by  tlie  priest  in  the 
act  of  consecration. 


VI.  Papists  refuse  the  cup  to  the 
laity,  in  the  eucharist. 


PROTESTANTS. 

I.  Protestants  believe  no  human 
creature  to  be  infallible,  and 
acknowledge  Christ  alone  to 
be  the  universal  bishop  of  his 
Church. 

II.  Protestants  believe  the  act 
of  bowing  down  to  the  host, 
and  to  images,  to  be  contrary 
to  the  second  commandment 
and  to  be  idolatry. 

III.  Protestants  hold  that  Christ 
is  our  only  Mediator  and  In- 
tercessor ;  and  that  Prayer  to 
saints  is  idolatry. 

IV.  Protestants  believe  such  con- 
version of  the  elements,  com- 
monly called  Transubstantia- 
tion,  to  be  unscriptural  and 
impossible. 

V.  Protestants  affirm  that  there 
is  no  authority  whatever  in 
Scripture  for  supposing  the 
priest  to  be  possessed  of  such 
miraculous  powers;  and  that 
the  mere  repetition  of  the  eu- 
charistic  form  of  consecration 
has  no  more  power  of  transub- 
stantiating the  elements  than 
the  utterance  of  the  words 
"  Lazarus,  come  forth,"  has  of 
raising  the  dead. 

VI.  Protestants  consider  the  re- 
fusal of  the  cup  to  be  a  muti- 
lation of  the  sacrament,  and 
a  violation  of  Christ's  most 
solemn  command. 


APPENDIX. 


271 


VI  I.  Papists  believe  that  Christ 
is  daily  offered  up  by  the 
priest  at  the  mass. 


VIII.  Papists  believe  there  is  a 
place  called  Purgator}',  in 
which  the  souls  of  men  are 
purged  of  sins  committed  in 
this  life. 

IX.  The  ceremonies  of  the 
Cliurch  of  Rome  are  many 
and  complex,  and  sometimes 
contraiy  to  the  scriptural 
sense  of  the  rite  performed, 
^s  in  the  baptismal  ceremouies. 


VII.  Protestants  believe  that 
Christ  offered  himself  once 
for  all  on  the  cross  ;  and  that 
the  Popish  doctrine  of  the 
Mass  detracts  from  the  suffi- 
ciency of  Christ's  own  atone- 
ment. 

VIII.  Protestants  believe  that 
the  hlood  of  Christ  alone 
cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and 
that  Christ  died  in  vain,  if  the 
paias  of  a  purgatoiy  are  ne- 
cessary to  our  salvation. 

IX.  The  ceremonies  of  the  Pro- 
testant Church  are  few  and 
simple,  and  conducive  onl}'^  to 
the  decency  and  order  of  pub- 
lic worship. 


The foresfoina:  "Reasons"  and  "Differences" 
are  taken  from  a  series  of  Tracts  published  by 
the  late  pious  and  learned  Bishop  of  Sarum, 
whilst  he  presided  over  the  See  of  St.  David's. 
The  whole  volume  is  highl}^  deserving  the  close 
attention  of  eyery  Protestant  in  England. 


No.  VI. 

The  absolving  power  of  the  priest  in  the  Church 
of  England  is  not  judicial  but  ministerial.  The 
view  taken  of  it  by  the  Author,  at  page  212,  in 
reference  to  the  case  of  leprosy  under  the  Levit- 
ical  law,  accords  most  fully  with  the  opinion  of 
St.  Jerome,  as  appears  by  his  remark  on  St. 
Matthew,  xvi.  19,     "Istum   locum  Episcopi  et 


272 


APPENCIX. 


Presbyteri  non  intelligentes,  nliquid  sibi  de 
Pharisaeorum  assumunt  supercilio :  ut  vel  dam- 
nent  innocentes,  vel  solvere  se  noxios  arbitren- 
tur ;  cum  apud  Deum  non  senterdia  sacerdoUnriy 
sed  reorum  vita  qu^ratur.  Legimus  in  Levitico 
de  leprosis  ',  ubi  jubentur,  ut  ostendant  se  sacer- 
dotibus  ;  et  si  lepram  habuerint,  tunc  ^  sacerdote 
immundi  fiant;  non  quo  sacerdotes  leprosos  fa- 
ciant  et  immundos,  sed  quo  haheant  iiotitiam 
leprosi,  et  non  leprosi :  et  possint  discernere  qui 
mundus  quive  immundus  sit.  Quomodo  ergo  ibi 
leprosum  sacerdos  mtindum  vel  immundum  facit ;  sic 
et  hie  alligat,  vel  solvit  Episcopiis  et  Presbyter  :  non 
eos  qui  insontes  sunt  vel  noxii,  sed  pro  officio  suOy 
cum  peccatorum  audierit  va,rietates,  scit  qui  ligandus 
sit,  qui  solvendusy 

"  The  bishops  and  priests,  totally  mistaking 
that  passage,  (viz.  Matt.  xvi.  19,)  assume  to 
themselves  so  much  of  Pharisaical  arrogance,  as 
either  to  condemn  the  innocent,  or  to  imagine 
that  they  can  acquit  the  guilty  ;  whereas  with 
God  the  inquiry  will  be  not  as  to  the  opinion  of 
the  priests,  but  the  conduct  of  the  criminals. 
We  read  in  the  Book  of  Leviticus  respecting 
Lepers  ;  where  they  are  commanded  to  show 
themselves  to  the  priests ;  and  if  they  should 
have  the  leprosy,  then  they  should  be  made 
clean  by  the  priest ;  not  so  that  the  priests  could 
make  them  leprous  and  unclean,  but  that  they 
might   have    a   clear   knowledge  of  who    wa.s 


APPENDIX.  273 

leprous,  and  who  not  so — and  should  be  able  to 
distinguish  between  the  clean  and  unclean.  In 
the  same  manner,  therefore,  as  in  that  case  the 
priest  made  the  leper  clean  or  unclean,  so  in 
this  the  bishop  or  priest  binds  or  looses  ;  not  in- 
discriminately those  who  are  innocent  or  guilty, 
but  as  far  as  his  office  allows,  when  he  shall 
have  inquired  into  their  several  offences,  he 
judges  who  is  to  be  bound  and  who  loosed." 


No.  VII. 


*'I  TOLD  you  that  you  were  not  to  write  to  me 
or  to  any  other  person  in  that  style,  and  be- 
hold, in  the  Preface  to  that  Epistle  directed  to 
me  who  thus  prohibited,  you  have  set  this  proud 
appellation,  calling  me  'Universal  Pope  or 
Father,'  which  I  desire  you  will  do  no  more, 
for  it  is  a  derogating  from  yourself  to  bestow  on 
another  more  than  reason  requires ;  I  count  it 
on  my  honour,  wherein  I  know  my  brethren 
lose  their  honour ;  my  honour  is  the  honour  of 
the  Universal  Church,  my  honour  is  that  my 
brethren  should  enjoy  what  fully  belongs  to 
them — then  am  I  truly  honoured,  when  the  honour 
which  is  due  to  all  is  denied  to  none ;  for  if  j'^ou 

14* 


274  APPENDIX. 

call  me  Universal  Pope,  5^ou  deny  that  to  your- 
self which  you  attribute  all  to  me." 

B.  Gregor.  Ex  Regist.  1.  7. 
Indict.  I.  C.  30. 


No.  VIII. 

Appended  to  a  poem  (referred  to  at  page  19) 
in  the  ancient  Cornish  language,  entitled  ^^  Mount 
Calvary, ^^  or  the  ^'Passion  of  Christ,''''  and  trans- 
lated into  English  by  John  Keigwin  towards  the 
end  of  the  17th  century,  is  the  following  ancient 
Cornish  version  of  the  Protest  addressed  by 
Dinoth  in  the  name  of  the  British  Bishops  to 
Augustine,  as  given  at  p.  92.  It  is  copied  from 
a  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  library,  and  has  been 
kindly  communicated  to  the  writer  by  the  Rev. 
R.  S.  Hawker,  vicar  of  Morwenstow,  Cornwall, 
the  talented  author  of  "Records  of  the  Western 
Shore."  This  copy  is  evidently  a  part  only  of 
the  Protest  as  given  by  Sir  H.  Spelman,  per- 
haps its  title,  but  is  valuable  as  confirming  his 
testimony  to  a  great  historical  fact.  The  trans- 
lation acccompanying  it  is  probably  from  the 
pen  of  Keigwin. 


APPENDIX.  275 

"  A  Proteslcaon  of  the  Bipps  in  Briten  to  Au- 
gustine the  Monke,  the  Pope's  Legate,  in  the 
year  600,  p*  Dm  Chfum. 

Cornish — Bidispis     a  DiogoU         choi      y    bos 

English. — Be  it  known  to   all  X'an  people  that         wee        aro 

yn  un  att  arall  yn  unwidd  y  yum  ystengedig  yn 

in       one  and      other       in    observance   and      arc  helpful  to 

Eglawis  Duis. 

tho  Church  of     God. 

Or,  EngHshed  thus: 

"  Bee  it  known  to  all  Xian  people,  that  we 
are  fellow  servants  and  ministers  of  one  Church 
of  God." 


No.  IX. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTICES    RESPECTINa  THE    PRESENT 
STATE    OF    PERRANZABULOE. 

On  visiting  the  ancient  church  of  Perranzabu- 
loe,  soon  after  the  first  edition  was  sent  to  the 
press,  the  writer  was  grieved  to  find  that  the 
old  enemy  had  been  again  most  actively  at 
work,  having  accumulated  the  sand  so  deeply 
around  the  building,  as  once  more  to  threaten  its 
speedy  and  entire  entombment;  added  to  which, 
the   spoiler's  hand  has    mischievously  thrown 


276  APPENDIX. 

down  or  removed  the  whole  of  the  beautiful 
doorway,  and  has  moreover  shown  so  little 
reverence  for  this  interesting  remnant  of  ancient 
piety,  that  the  interior  of  the  sanctuary  itself  has 
been  desecrated  by  many  acts  of  wanton  pro- 
fanation. 

To  the  reader  who  may  have  felt  a  pleasing 
interest  in  the  several  matters  relating  to  the 
restoration  of  the  old  church,  it  will  not  be  less 
interesting  to  hear,  that  within  a  few  yards  of  its 
southern  side,  has  been  discovered  a  building, 
which  in  all  probability  was  the  very  "  cell  "  in 
which  the  pilgrim  saint  resided.  The  walls  are 
of  the  same  thickness  and  construction  as  those 
of  the  church,  and  are  evidently  of  the  same 
age.  They  form  but  one  small  apartment,  hav- 
ing neither  window  nor  chimne^^,  and  but  one 
door-way.  It  may  have  been  the  humble  dwell- 
ing of  the  priest  attached  to  the  Church.  The 
ground,  to  a  considerable  extent  around  the 
Church,  especially  on  its  southern  and  western 
side,  is  covered  with  human  bones,  which  the 
winds,  or  the  hands  of  the  curious,  have  torn 
from  their  narrow  cells.  The  quantity  of  these 
human  remains  is  so  great,  as  plainly  to  show 
that  this  spot  must  have  been  the  cemetery  of  a 
dense  population,  or  of  a  large  district ;  and  the 
mode  of  interment  indicates  a  very  remote  pe- 
riod of  British   history  ;  for  the  bones  are  here 


APPENDIX.  277 

found  placed  with  much  care,  in  what  is  called, 
in  the  ancient  Cornish  language,  kist-vaen,  or  a 
chest  of  stone.  These  kist-vaens  are  composed 
of  several  pieces  of  slate  stone,  placed  on  their 
edges,  so  as  to  form  a  kist  or  cell,  and  differ 
from  the  cromlech  in  having  no  horizontal  or 
covering-stone.  The  kist-vaens  are  believed  to 
be  the  most  ancient  British  sepulchres  in  Eng- 
land, and  have  been  found  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  They  are  sometimes  covered  over 
with  stones,  when  they  are  cslled  cairns,  instan- 
ces of  which  we  have  at  L  any  on  and  Molfra,  in 
the  parish  of  Maderne  in  Cornwall,  and  in  Berk- 
shire, near  the  track  of  the  ancient  ridgeway,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  White  Horse  Hill ;  and  some- 
times, instead  of  stones,  they  are  covered  by  a 
heap  or  mound  of  earth,  when  they  are  called 
barrows,  a  singular  instance  of  which  is  to  be 
seen  in  what  is  called  the  Long  Barrow,  at 
Stony  Littleton,  in  Somersetshire. 

In  the  case  of  Perranzabuloe  the  kist-vaens 
are  immersed  in  the  sand,  which  has  had  the 
effect  of  preserving  their  contents  in  a  singular- 
ly perfect  manner ;  for  the  bones,  and  especial- 
ly the  teeth,  are  as  entire  as  when  they  were 
first  interred — possibly  many  hundred  years  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  Piranus. 

Close  to  the  site  of  the  second  Church  stands 
erect  a  most  venerable,  perforated  granite  Cross. 


278 


APPENDIX. 


The  Cross  is  formed,  after  the  rudest  mode,  by 
three  holes  which  perforate,  and  a  fourth  cut 
i)nly  a  little  way  into  the  rounded  head  of  what 
was  commonly  by  the  Cornish  denominated 
"Men  Skryfd,"  or  an  i?iscribed  stone ;  for  it  evi- 
dently has  borne  an  inscription,  but  in  what 
character  it  is  now  impossible  to  dec3'pher.  It 
measures  about  thirteen  feet  in  height,  four  of 
which  are  buried  in  the  sand.  This  rude  me- 
morial of  early  Christian  piety,  in  all  likelihood, 


APPENDIX.  279 

is  as  ancient  as  the  time  of  Piranus  himself,  and 
may  have  originally  been  erected  near  the  first 
Church,  and  removed  to  its  present  situation, 
when  the  second  Church  was  built,  about  a.  d. 
1100.  Its  form  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that 
it  was  once  a  heathen  monument,  British  or  Ro- 
man, afterwards  converted  to  a  Christian  pur- 
pose. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter,  that  under  the  altar  were  dis- 
covered three  skeletons,  having  their  feet  turned 
towards  the  East ;  but  what  is  very  remarkable, 
the  skulls  of  all  three  were  found  deposited  be- 
tween the  legs  of  the  female. 

In  describing  the  sterility  of  the  surrounding 
sandhills,  the  author  has  represented  them  as 
totally  destitute  of  verdure  ;  he  begs  to  qualify, 
in  some  respects,  this  statement,  as  they  are  here 
and  there  covered  with  a  very  stunted  and 
coarse  herbage,  which  affords  a  scanty  food  for 
the  rabbits  which  have  burrowed  in  great  num- 
bers among  the  sandhills.  The  general  barren- 
ness, however,  of  the  whole  district,  is  very 
striking,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  list 
of  the  only  plants  which  the  writer  could  dis- 
cover on  the  Towans  or  sandhills. 

Geranium  Maritimum  {Sea  Crancshill),  in 
abundance. 

Hyoscyamus  Niger  (Common  Henbane),  a  soli- 
tary plant. 


280  APPENDIX. 

Cynoglossum  Officinale  {Great  Houndstongue), 
in  abundance. 

Euphorbia  Paralios  (Sea  Sjpurge)^  a  single 
plant. 

Calamagrostis  arenaria  {Sea  Matweed), 

This  last  mentioned  plant  is  the  most  abun- 
dant of  all,  and  proves  of  essential  service  in 
checking  the  roving  disposition  of  the  sand.  It 
possesses  the  singular  property  of  accommo- 
dating its  growth  to  the  depth  of  sand  in  which 
it  grows,  by  which  means  its  tough  and  tortuous 
roots  and  stems  serve  the  useful  purpose  of  bind- 
ing the  sandhills  together.  The  Dutch  have 
long  profited  by  their  knowledge  of  this  proper- 
ty, and  therefore  encourage  the  growth  of  it 
with  great  success  on  their  sea  walls,  and  the 
banks  of  their  canals.  According  to  Woodward, 
it  is  applied  to  the  same  purpose  on  the  flat 
coast  of  Norfolk,  v\^here  as  soon  as  it  takes  root 
a  sandhill  oathers  around  it. 

o 

The  inhabitants  of  Newborough,  in  Anglesea, 
maintain  themselves  chiefly  by  manufacturing  it 
into  mats  and  ropes,  to  which  use  it  is  also  ap- 
plied by  the  people  of  Perranzabuloe,  who 
would  do  well  were  they  more  generally  to  at- 
tend to  its  cultivation,  as  the  most  eflectual  bar- 
rier yet  known  against  the  further  "  spoiling 
and  marring  of  their  lands,"  by  the  drifting 
sand. 

So  highly  was  the   Calamagrostis  prized  On 


APPENDIX.  281 

this  very  account,  as  long  ago  as  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  that  her  Majesty,  under  very 
severe  penalties  prohibited  its  extirpation ;  and 
by  the  Stat.  15  Geo.  II.  c.  33,  the  like  prohibi- 
tion was  extended  to  the  cutting  of  it  on  the 
sandhills,  on  the  north  western  coast  of  Eng- 
land. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Absolving  power  of  the 
Church.         .         .         .211 

Adelstan  first  Bishop  of 
Bodmin .         .         .         .19 

Agricola  introduces  Pela- 
gianism  into  England      .     70 

AiDAN  assists  in  converting 
the  Northumbrians  .     98 

Alfred,  king,  visits  Pira- 
nus'  shrine     .         .         .20 

opposes  the  Pope's 

supremacy      .         .         .  109 

reforms  the  Church, 

and  encourages  Letters     110 

Alban,  St.  first  British  mar- 
tyr        .         .         .         .66 

Angles  invade  Britain       .     73 

Andate,  temple  of      .         .37 

ANSELMjArchbishop  of  Can- 
terbury .         .         .         .119 

Alexander  III.  Pope,  pro- 
tests against  the  Council 
of  Clarendon.         .         .  120 

his  insolent  con- 
duct to  Henry  II.  .         .  121 

Ariminum,  Council  of        .     67 

Aries,  Council  of,  when  held    id. 

Arthur,  king,  death  of      .16 

Aristobulus,  first  Bishop  of 
Britain  .         .         .         .38 

Arundel,  Archbishop,  his 
severity  .         .        .   143 

Humphrey,  raises 

the  standard  of  revolt  in 
Devon   .         .         .         .200 

Athelstan  introduces  the 
tax  of  Church-shot  .  Ill 

Asaph,  St.  preaches  the 
gospel  in  Britain     .         .     77 

Attila  harasses  the  Britons     72 

Augsburg,  Diet  of,  when 
called     .         .         .         .153 


AuGUSTiN,  Bishop  o^  Hippo, 
his  opinion  of  papal  su- 
premacy 

Augustine,  the  Monk,  sent 
to  convert  the  Saxons     . 

lands  at  Retes- 

burgh,  id. — his  interview 
with  Ethelbert 

endeavors  to  de- 


PAGB 


stroy  the  simplicity  of  the 
British  Church,  89— Con- 
venes the  British  Bishops 
holds  a  second 


council  at  Augustine's  Ac 
his  arrosfant  and 


cold-blooded  conduct 

his  death  . 

Baronius,  his  testimony  re- 
specting the  British  Ch. 

Basil,  Council  of,  establish- 
es a  new  principle  . 

Becket,  Thomas  a,  opposes 
Henry  II.       . 

his  intolerable  inso- 
lence, id. — is  deposed 

his  tragical  end  122, 

— account  of  his  shrine  . 

Bertha,  her  marriage  with 
Ethelbert 

her  eflfort  to  convert 


52 
76 


id. 


90 
91 

93 

94 


37 


147 


120 


121 


182 


74 


the  people  of  Kent . 
BiRiNus    made    Bishop   of 

Dorchester     . 
BoLEYN,  Ann,  marries  Hen- 
ry VIII. 
Boadicea,  her  defeat 
Bodmin,  first  Bishopric  set- 
tled at        ...         . 

is  burnt  by   the 

Danes    ....     id. 
Boniface  III,  Pope,  his  im- 
pious character       .         .  134 


id. 

100 

158 
40 

19 


284: 


INDEX. 


-  PAGE 

Boniface  III,  excommuni- 
cates Philip  the  Fair      .  135 

Bo.WER,  Bishop,  is  compel- 
led to  place  Bibles  in  St. 
Paul's    .         .         .         .169 

hie  Sermon  at  St. 

Paul's  Cross  .         .         .202 


is  deprived  of  his 

Bishopric        .        .         .203 

Book.    Bishops',    what    so 
called     ....  171 

Bretwalda,  who  so  called  .  74 

Brax,  a  captive  at  Rome, 
wlien      .         .         .         .43 

Britain,  its  early  condition     37 

Bishops  of,  retire 

into  Cornwall  .         .17 

'  Church  of,  its  rapid 

progress.         .         .         .63 

flourishes     under 

Constantius    .         .  65 

is   persecuted   by 

Diocletian       .         .         .66 

is  involved  in  much 

obsciirity  in  the  Vth  cen- 
tury.      .         .         .         .70 

is  overrun  by  Pe- 

lagianism       .         .         .id. 


—  is  cruelly  treated 
by  the  Saxons         .         .     72 

Britons,  Comish,  maintain 
their  independence,  18 — 
submit  at  last  to  Romish 
influence         .         .         .19 

BucER,  Martin,  revises  the 
Communion  Office  .  191 

is  kindly   received 

by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, 204 — advanced 
to  the  Oxford  Divinity 
Chair     .         .         .         .205 

Caer-leon  converted  into  an 
Archbishopric  .         .     65 

in   transferred  to 

Llandaff,  90 — scene  of 
the  slaughter  of  the 
British  Clergy         .         .     93 


PAGE 

Calcuith,  Council  of,  when 
held        .         .         .         .103 

Callistus,  his  testimony 
respecting  the  British 
Church.         ...     37 

Candlelight,  early  custom  of 
praying  by      .         .         .26 

CA>iUTE,  curious  edict  of  re- 
specting Idolatry    .         .116 

Carn-bre,  Druidical  remains 
at 5 

Catherine,  Queen,  is  repu- 
diated by  Henry  VIII.      157 

Catechumens,  how  distin- 
guished from  the  Faithful   188 

Castle  Treryn,  a  seat  of  the 
Druids   ....       5 

Caurus,  how  fatal  on  the 
Comish  Coast         .         .     22 

Celts,  whom  they  included    39 

Cerdocius  tolerates  Chris- 
tianity in  Cornwall        .       6 

Charles,  Emperor,  his  plan 
of  the  Interim         .         .  204 

Charibert,  king  of  Paris, 
gives  his  daughter  to 
Ethelbert       .         .         .     74 

Christianity,  when  first  in- 
troduced into  Britam       .     37 

when  first  in- 
troduced into  Cornwall  6 

Church,  argument  of  its  ob- 
scurity answered     .         .     32 

causes  of  its  corrup- 
tion in  IV  and  V  centuries     84 

shot,  by  whom  in- 
troduced        •         .         .111 

Clarendon,  Council  of,  by 
whom  called  .         .         .119 

Claudia  Rufina,  a  British 

lady   ....     43 

Clemens  Romanus,  his  testi- 
mony respecting  Britain     39 

Clement  V,  Pope,  removes 
to  AAngnon     .         .         .136 

VII,  Pope,  his  dex- 
terity    ....  157 


INDEX. 


285 


PAGE 

CiiRYSosTOM,  St.,  his  testi- 
mony respecting  the  Brit- 
ish Chnrnh       .         .         .68 

Cloveshoo,  Synod  of,  when 
held        .  ■      .         .         .102 

CoBHAM,  Lord,  is  condemned 
to  death .         .         .         .144 

CoLUMBAN,  St.  preaches  the 
Gospel  in  Britain     .         .     77 

Common  Prayer,  Book  of, 

made  public    .         .         .197 

Commission,    appointed   for 
examining  the  Popish 
Mass      .         .         .         ,187 

CoxsTANTiNE,  Emperor,  fa- 
vours the  British  Church     67 


gives  a  new 


form  to  Church  Govern 
ment      .         .         .         .83 

Constance,  Council  of,  with- 
draws the  cup  from  the 
Laity,  condemns  John 
Huss       .         .         .         .145 

Constantinople,  Council  of, 
coufinns  the  privileges  of 
Provincial  Bishops  .         .     69 

Convocation  decrees  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Church 
of  England      .         .         .158 

CoRANTiNus,  first  Comisli 
Apostle  ....       7 

Cornish  resists  the  encroach- 
ments of  Rome        .         .15 

Cornwall,  early  state  of     .       5 

CouRTENAY,  Archb'p.,  cites 
WiclifFe  before  him  .  142 

CovERDALE,  MiLEs,  trans- 
lates the  Bible         .         .162 

Cranmer,  how  first  known 
to  Henry  VIII        .        .  157 

is  advanced  to  the 

prim;icy,  158 — opposed  to 
the  spoliation  of  the  church, 
If^l      li  is  Great  Bible       .  164 
--  opposes  the  Six  Ar- 


Cranmer  publishes  12  hom- 
ilies       .         .         .         .184 

draws  up  the  Ar- 
ticles    ....  216 

Cross,  curious  one  at  Per- 
ranzabuloe      .         .         .278 

Crusades,  why  and  by  whom 
encouraged     .         .  114 

CuTHBERT,  endeavors  to  re- 
form the  Church     .         .  102 

Cyprian,  Bishop  ol  Car- 
thage asserts  the  equality 
of  all  Bishops .         .         .58 

• —  denies  the  Pope's 

supremacy      .         .         .82 

Differences  between  the 
Churches  of  England  and 
Rome     .... 

DiNOTii,  Abbot  of  Bangor, 
his  intrepid  reply  to  Au- 
gustin    .... 

Diocletian  persecutes  the 
Church  .... 

DiUMA  assists  in  converting 
the  Midland  Counties     . 

Doctrines,  the  new — what 

Dominicans, ih.e\x  character; 
are  opposed  at  Oxford     . 

Dorotheus,  his  testimony 
respecting  the  British 
Church  .         .         .         .' 

Dramatic  fetes  in  churches 
are  suppressed 

Druids,  character  of  their 
religion  ....       5 

DuNSTAN  establishes  the  first 
monastery  at  Glastonbury  111 

insists  on  the  celiba- 


270 


92 
66 

99 

143 

136 


37 


170 


tides,  166 — changes  some 

of    his    opinions     .         .  168 


cy  of  the  Clergy 
Duloe,  a  Seat  of  the  Druids 
Eadbald,  how  deceived  by 

Laurcntius 
Easter,  disputes  respecting 

the  time  for  keeping,  15, 

do 

Edmund,  Alfred's  brother, 

his  zeal  for  his  Church    . 


id. 
5 

97 


105 


111 


286 


INDEX. 


Edward  the  Elder  founds  a 
Bishopric  in  Cornwall     . 

tamely   yields  to 

the  Pope 

VI.,  king,  mounts 


the  English  thronf 

his  early  piety 


Edwin  embraces  Christian- 
ity  .... 

Eledtherius,  his  letter  to 
Lucius   .... 

Elfric,  some  account  of 
his  Homilies  . 

England,  when  first  de- 
clared by  Parliament  in- 
dependent of  Rome 

"  Epificopus  Episcoporum," 
■when  assumed  as  a  title 
by  the  Pope  . 

Erasmus,  his  paraphrase 
ordered  to  be  placed  in 
all  Churches  . 

Essex,  when  first  converted 
to  Christianity 

Ethelbert,  king  of  Kent, 
becomes  a  Christian 

receives  favora- 
bly a  mission  from  Greg- 
ory the  Great 

Etiielfrid  slaughters  the 
British  Clergy 

EusEBius,  his  testimony  con- 
cerning the  British  Ciiurch 

respecting   the 

arrival   of  some    of    the 
Apostles  in  Britain . 

Exarchs,  their  authority, 
what      .... 

Fagius,  Paul,  arrives  in 
England 

Pennington  Bridge, hatiie  of 

Franciscans,  their  corrupt 
character 

Frederic,  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony, supports  Luther 

Fuaran,  Lake  of,  in  Ireland 


PAGE 

19 

id. 

179 
180 

97 

64 

112 

158 

82 

136 
99 
74 

74 
93 
37 

39 

83 

204 
201 

130 

152 
8 


Gama,  Vasco  de,  his  disco- 
very of  the  SjTo-Christian 
Churches        .         .         .  253 

Gardiner,  Bishop,  effects 
the  enactment  of  the  Six 
Articles.         .         .         .165 

endeavors    to 


ruin  Cranmer 
fall 


into 


dis- 
grace, 173 — vainly  at- 
tempts to  uphold  Image 
worship  and  Pictures 

Germanus,  Bishop  of  Aux- 
erre,  attaclcs  Pelagianism 
in  Britain 

Germains,  St.,  Bishopric  of 
Bodmin  transferred  to     . 

GiLDAS  the  Wise,  his  testi- 
mony concernmg  the  Brit- 
ish Church     . 

Glastonbury,  the  first  mon- 
astery erected  at    . 

Greeklade,iiYst  English  Uni- 
versity established  at 

Gregory  the  Great  desires 
to  convert  the  Saxons     . 

educates  some  youths 

for  that  purpose 

sends  Augustine   to 

England76,  his  pretended 
hmnility,  85,  rewards  Au- 
gustine with  the  pall 

XI.,  Pope,  issues  an 

Order  for  the  imprison- 
ment of  WiclifFe     . 

Grymbold,  St.,  is  invited  to 
Oxford,  259 — occasions 
violent  disputes  there 

Helexa  marries  Constantius 

Hengist  is  invited  to  Eng- 
land —  turns  his  arms 
against  the  British . 

Henr-y  II.  opposes  the  pow- 
er of  the  Pope 

convenes  the  Coun- 
cil of  Clarendon 


172 


184 


71 


19 


40 


111 


258 


75 


id. 


86 


142 


260 
65 


72 


119 


id. 


INDEX. 


2S7 


Henry  II.  disgracefully  sub- 
mits to  the  Pope     . 

Emperor  is  poisoned 

by  a  papist     . 

IV.  usurps  the  Brit- 


ish Crown 

-,  his  severity  towards 


tlie  followers  of  Wiclitio 
VIII.,  kmg,   repu- 
diates his  wife 
determines  on  the 


dissolution  of  the  Monas- 
teries     .... 
puts  Catherine  How- 
ard to  death  and  why     . 

his   man'iage  with 

Catherine  Parr,  in  what 
respect  beneficial  to  the 
Protestant  Church . 

his  death,  175 — ^liis 


PAGE 

122 
13G 
143 

id. 
157 

160 
169 

id. 

178 

73 

91 


character 
Heptarchy,    Saxon,    when 

established 
Hermit,  advice  of  the,  to 

the  British  Bishops 
Hilary,  St.,  his  testimony 

in  favor   of  the   British 

Church.         .         .         .     Q^ 
Homilies,  Elfric's,  of  what 

composed       .         .         .112 

Cranmer's,  12,what  185 

HoRSA  is  invited  to  land  in 

England     .         .         .72 
turns  his  arms  against 

the  British      .  .  .     id. 

Huss,  JoiL\,is  condemned  by 

the  Council  of  Constance  145 
Impropriations,  Lay,  their 

origin     .  .         .         .161 

Indulgences,  when  publicly 

sold        .         .         .         .150 
Innocent  III.,  Pope,  acts  in 

defiance  of  King  John     .  124 
lays  Eiiglaud 

under  an  interdict  .  .     id. 

Inquisitors  endeavor  to  ex- 
tirpate the  new  doctrines  144 


Investitures,  right  of,  what 
John,  the  Faster,  assumes 
the  title  of  "CEcumenical 
Bishop". 
jkiiig,  is  excommunica- 
ted by  the  Pope ,  and  why 
-,  his  abject  submission, 


125,  his  contest  with  the 
Barons  .... 

Iren^us,  his  testimony  re- 
specting the  first  Bishop 
of  Rome 

his  testimony  re- 
specting Britain 

Jerome,  St.,  refers  to  the 
British  Church 

his  testimony  re- 
specting St.  Paul    . 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  by 
whom  said  to  have  Evan- 
gelized Britain 

Julius  It.  Pope,  his  charac- 
ter .... 

Justus,  for  what  purpose 
sent  from  Rome 

Jut  a  invade  Britain  for 
plunder  .... 

Kentigern  preaches  the 
Gospel  in  Britain    . 

King's  Book,  what  so  called 

Kist-vacns,  curious  remains 
of,  in  Cornwall 

Lamhourne,  removal  of 
Church  to       .         .         . 

Lancaster,  Duke  of,  sup- 
ports Wicliffe . 

Lan(;ton,  Stephen,  is  ap- 
pointed to  the  Primacy 

reduces  King  John 

to  most  abject  terms 

his  conduct  with 


respect  to  Magna  Charta 
Z(tf;/iM//,  celebrated  school  of 
Laurentius,  succeeds  Au- 
gustine .... 

attempts    to 

control  the  Scots 


118 

85 
124 

127 

57 
39 

68 
40 

38 

149 

95 

73 

77 
171 

277 

28 

138 

123 

125 

12G 
71 

95 

98 


288 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Laurentius,  his  pious  fraud     97 

Leo  I.,  Pope ,  his  great  ar- 
rogancy  .         .         .51 

Leo  X.,  Pope,  his  character  149 

sells  indulgeuces,and 

why       .         .         .         .150 

Liturgy,  Church  of  England 
is  drawn  up  by  the  Re- 
formers.        .         .         .  192 

nearly  resembles  the 

ancient  Gallican  Liturgy     id. 

LiviNGus,  Abbot  of  Tavis- 
tock, effects  the  union  of 
tlie  Bishoprics  of  Crediton 
and  St  Gennains  .         .     19 

Llandaff,  famous  School  of    71 

Lollards,  who,  and  why  so 
called     .         .         .         .141 

London,  constituted  an 
Archbishopric  .         .     65 

Lucius,  King,  his  zeal  for 
the  Church     ...     63 

appoints  Archbishops 

and  Bishops    .         .         .66 

Lupus,  Bishop  of  Troy es,  21s- 
sists  in  rooting  out  Pela- 
gianism .         .         .         .71 

Luther,  Martin,  first  op- 
poses the  iniquitous  sale  of 
indulgences    .         .         .  151 

■ bums  the 

Pope's  Bull,  152 — is  con- 
demned by  the  Diet  of 
Worms  .         .         .         .152 

Magna  Charta  is  extorted 
from  King  John      .         .  126 

■ is  annulled 

by  the  Pope   .         .         .127 

Magus.mmon,  strange  story 
respecting       .         .         .49 

Malabar,  Christian  Church- 
es of      .         .         ,         .  253 

Manchester,  Earl  of,  his 

i?llletter  to  his  son       .         .  233 

Mary,  Princess,  act  passed 
in  favor  of  lier  succession  173 

her  contumacy        .  199 


P'AGS 

Mass,  its  derivation  and  di- 
vision    .        .        .        .188 

for  the  dead  found  to 

be  imscriptural        .         .    id. 

,  Canon  of  the,  what  191 

Melancthon  supports  the 
Reformation  .         .         .153 

draws    up  the 

famous  Confession  .         .     id. 

assists  in  draw- 
ing up  the  42  Articles  of 
the  Church     .         .         .218 

Melitus  is  advanced  to  the 
See  of  London  .     94 

Mendicants  become  univer- 
sally reprobated      .         .136 

Menezes,  R,  C, Archbishop 
convenes  a  Synod  of  the 
Syrian  Clergy         .         .  254 

Mentz,  Archbishop  of,  traf- 
fics in  Indulgences .         .  151 

Metropolitans,  their  autho- 
rity, what       .         .         .83 

Missal,  Roman,  groundwork 
of  the  communion  service  188 

Monacliism,  questions  re- 
specting .         .         .109 

Monasteries,  their  dissolu- 
tion, how  prejudicial  to 
England         .         .         .166 

MoNTAGUE,WALTER,Letter 

to  from  his  Father .         .  233 
More,  Lord  Chancellor,  op- 
poses the  Refonnation     .   156 
Mysteries,  what  so  called      171 
Necham,   Alexander,  his 
testimony  respecting  Ox- 
ford       .         .         .         .258 
Neot,  St.,  settles  at  Oxford  259 
Nice,  Coimcil  of         .         .67 
NiCEPHORUs,  his  testimony 

respecting  St.  Peter         .     38 
NoGARET,  William  de,  is 

sent  to  seize  the  Pope      .  134 
Nuremburg,  peace  conclu- 
ded with  the  Protestants 
at  .         .         0  .153 


INDEX. 


289 


PAGE 

Offa,  king  of  Mercia,  his 
endeavors  to  degrade  the 
Church  .         .         .         .103 

establishes  the  Tax 

called  Peter-Pence.         .    id. 

Ordinal,  New,  by  whom 
drawn  up        .         .         .  207 

,    in    what   respects 

different  from  the  Romish  208 

Oswald  endeavours  to  con- 
vert his  subjects       .         .     98 

appomts  Birinus  to 

the  See  of  Dorchester     .  100 

Oj;/"orff,Uuivcrsity  of,  when 
first  founded  .         .         .237 

Oxford,  proved  not  to  be  of 
Romish  origiji         .         .  25G 

— — supports  WiclifTe 

in  reforming  the  Church  .  138 

Pa.ndolph  receives  ilie  sub- 
mission of  King  John       .  125 

Papa  Benedictus,  when  first 
used  as  a  papal  title        .     51 

Parker,  Archbishop,  revi- 
ses tlie  42  Articles  .         .220 

Patriarclis,  their  authority, 
what       .         .         .         .83 

Paul,  St.,  when  sent  a  pri- 
soner to  Rome         .         .     47 

,  when    liberated, 

43 — preaches  the  Gospel 
in  Britain,  44 — appoints 
the  first  Bishop        •  .     45 

Peada,  king  of  IVJercia,  his 
marriage  .  .  .99 

Pelagius,  his  history  and 
heresy    .         .         .         .70 

Pcrranzahuloe,  origin  of 
the  najue         .         >         .10 

,  its  wild  and  des- 
olate character        .         .       3 

,  celebrity  oi  the 

Shrine,  20 — is  endowed 
by  Edward  the  Confessor, 
20 — Causes  of  its  decline, 
22 — is  totally  buried  in 
the  sand.         .         .         .23 


Peter,  St.,  in  what  re- 
spect the  Founder  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  49 — his 
Commission  from  Christ, 
what       .... 

,     his     confession 

liow  to  be  understood 

Martyr  visits  Eng- 


PAGE 


land 


is  raised  to  the  Divi- 
nity Chair  at  Cambridge. 

Pence,   wlieu   first 

established,     101 — when 


53 
53 

204 
205 


totally  abolislied 

Petrl's  and  Petra,  how 
distinguished  . 

Philip  the  Fair  opposes  the 
Pope       ,         ,         .         . 

— sets  up  a  rival  Pope, 

134 — removes  the  papal 
residence  to  Avignon 

Piranus,  his  singular  history 
7 — lands  in  Cornwall,  9 — 
how  a  benefactor  to  miner 

Piranus,  his  death,  13 — his 
shrine  becomes  famous 

PoLLANUs  Valerandus,  his 
Form  of  Absolution 

PoMPOMA  Gr.ecina,  some 
account  of  her 

Popes,  their  extreme  corrup- 
tion        .... 

— ,  their  character  in 

the  11th  Century    . 

,    the     Rclormation 

how  hastened  by  them     . 

Popish  marks  of  a  true 
Church,  what 

Prayers,  Bidding,  what 

Printing,  Art  of,  af:sists  the 
Reformers 

Protest  of  the  British  Bish- 
ops, what 

Protestants'  reasons  for  the 
independence  of  the  Brit- 
ish Church 

'■ — ,   where    so    first 

15 


158 


54 


133 


134 


10 
20 
195 
44 
106 
115 
14^ 

33 

192 

148 
92 


264 


290 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

called  153 — are  severely- 
persecuted  in  England     .  1G7 
Protestantism,  why  no  nov- 
elty        .         .         .         .36 

Eeformation,by  what  means 
accelerated     .         .         .  147 

Reformers,  English,  attack 
the  errors  of  the  Chiu'ch 
of  Rome         .         .         .  182 

commence  with  the 

Office  of  the  Mass  .         .  187 

proceed    with    the 

Liturgies  .  192—194 

Reteshurgh,  the  place 
where  Augustine  lirst 
landed    .         .         .         .76 

Roman  Catholic  Reasons 
for  remaining  in  Schism  .  266 

Rous,  JoKx,  his  testimony 
respecting  the  foundation 
of  Oxford        .         .         .258 

Russell,  Lord  John,  defeats 
the  Cornish  Rebels.         .  200 

Sardica,  council  of,  vdien 
held        .         ,         .         .     G7 

Saxons,  their  cruel  treat- 
ment of  the  Britons         .     73 

J  when  and  by  whom 

converted  to  Christianity.  100 

Saxons  endeavor  to  sup- 
press Christianity  in  Eng- 
land       .  .  .       ° .     \7 

Saxony,  Elector  of,  rejects 
the  Interim     .         .         .  204 

ScoTus,  Johannes  Erigene  .  110 

Shot,  Church,  by  whom  in- 
troduced.        .         .         .111 

Ser\'ices,  Morning  and 
Evening,  whence  derived  195 

,  Burial,  how  opposed 

to  Purgatory  .  .  195 

SiGEBERT  assists  in  the  con- 
version of  Essex      .         .     99 

Smalcald,  League  of,  what 
so  caUed      ° .         .         .153 

Solomon,  Duke  of  Cornwall      6 


SoMBRSET,    Protector,     his 

fall  .         .         .         .203 

>S^/)Jrc, Diet  of, why  convened  153 
Statute,  Bloody,  when  and 
by  whom  enacted   . 

-,  is  resolutely  opposed 


by  Cranmei 

Stephen,  King,  reasons  for 
his  submission  to  the  Pope. 

Stonehenge,  Druidlcal  Cir- 
cle of     . 

Supremacy  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  how  unsupport- 
ed by  Scripture 

is  contradicted  by 

Christ's  example     . 

SuRP.Ev,  Earl  of,  why  put 
to  death .... 

SylvestePv  II.,  Pope,  en- 
courages the  Crusades 

Swale  river,  why  rendered 
famous   .... 

SyTO-Christians,  their  inter- 
esting history . 

Tertullian,  his  testimony 
concerning  the  British 
Church  .... 

asserts    the 

equality  of  all  Bishops     . 

,   his   reasons 


165 
166 


119 


37 


50 


id. 


175 


115 


76 


251 


39 


57 


for   peculiar   attachment 

to  the  Bishop  of  Rome    .    58 

Tetzel,  John,  publicly  sells 
Indulgences    .         ,         .151 

Theodorus  is  appointed  to 
the  Primacy  of  England  101 

encroaches  on  the 

See  of  York  .         .         .    id. 
Theodoret,  his  testimo- 
ny concerning  St.  Paul   .     40 

TiNDAL,    his    New  Testa- 
ment is  widely  circulated  156 

Tintagel,  on   the  coast  of 
Cornwall         ...       5 

ToxsTALL,  Bishop,  opposes 
the  Reformation      .         .  156 

Tonsur?,disputes  respectingit  105 


INDEX. 


291 


Transubstantiation.  doctrine 
of,  not  admitted  by  the 
An  ^  o-Saxou  Divines      .  11  "2 

■ is  rejected 

by  tlie  English  Clergy     .  118 

• is  opposed  by 

WiclifFe  .         .         .         .141 

Travaucor  ejClinstian  Chur- 
ches of  .         .         .         .  253 

Trent,  Council  of,  raises 
great  hopes  among  the 
Protestants      .         .         .181 

Tresuam,  Dr.,  his  contro- 
versy with  Peter  Martyr.  205 

Trullan  Council,  why  so 
called      ....     69 

Urban  II.  encourages  the 
Crusades         .         .         .114 

"  V.    is    opposed    by 

WiclifFe  .         f        .         .  137 

"  Universal  Bishop,''  a  title 
unknown  in  the  first  two 
centuries         .         .         .51 

University  of  Oxford,  not  of 
Roman  Catholic  founda- 
tion        .         .         .         .257 

Vaudois,  ancient  cliurches 
of 251 

Vexanth^  Fortu.natus,  a 
Writer  of  the  6th  century.     41 

Verulam,  abode  of  the  first 
British  Martyr         .         .     6G 

• Council  of,  when 

held        ....     71 

Victor,  Bishop  of  Rome, 
begins  to  claim  superiority 
over  other  Bishops  .         .     51 

Virgin  M\rv,  worship  of, 
when  increased       .         .108 

Visitors  appointed  to  purge 
the  Church  of  gross  abu- 
ses  198 

VoRTiGERN,  his  evil  advice 


to  the  Britons. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  leaves 
the  Romish  party    . 

WuELOcK,  his  testimony  re- 
spectmg  Transubstantia- 
tion        .... 

Whithrj,  SjTiod  of 

W^iCLiFFE,  John,  opposes 
the  Mendicants 

" ,  attacks  the 

Pope's  Supremacy, 137 — 
accused  of  heresy   . 

,  his  Tract 


PAGE 

72 

204 


113 
105 

136 


against  the  Pope's  Infal- 
libiht"    .... 

,  publishes  his 

Conclusions,  141 — refu- 
ses to  appear  before  the 
Primate,  142 — returns  to 
Lutterworth,  id. infa- 
mous order  of  the  Council 
of  Constance  respecting 
his  dead  body 

Wilfred  appeals  to  the 
Pope,  and  why 

William  the  Conquerer, 
asserts  his  independence 
of  Rome. 

,     maintains     the 

right  of  Investitures 

Rufus  acts  inde- 


138 


139 


pendent  of  the  Pope 
WiNGELA,  Mother  of  Pira- 

luis,  accompanies  her  Son 

to  Cornwall     . 
Wor7ns,  Diet  of,  why  held  . 
• ,  its  decrees  by  whom 

revoked  .... 
Yorl-,  when  formed  into  an 

Archbishopric. 
ZuiNGLiL's  Ulric,  liow  sup- 
ports the  Reformation  in 

Switzerland    . 


145 

105 

117 

118 

id. 


9 
152 

154 

65 

153 


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intercourse,  by  assembliug  at  stated  seasons,  to  confess  their  degeneracy,  and  revive  the 
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saved  from  the  guilt  and  dominion  of  sin  by  the  divine  merits  and  grace  of 
a  crucified  Redeemer ;  and  that  the  merits  and  grace  of  this  Redeemer  are 
applied  to  the  soul  of  the  believer  ui  the  devout  and  humble  participation  of 
the  oi'dinances  of  the  Church,  administered  by  a  Priesthood  who  derive  their 
authority  by  regidar  transmission  from  Christ,  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  the  source  of  all  power  in  it." 

Perhaps  no  other  commendation  of  this  work  is  needed  than  the  fact, 
that  since  its  first  publication,  in  1804,  it  has  successfully  withstood  the 
competition  of  all  other  works  on  the  same  subject,  has  passed  through  almost 
countless  editions,  and  is  still  steadily  hicreasing  in  the  favor  of  the  pious 
and  devout. 


JERRAM    ON    INFANT    BAPTISM. 

CONVERSATIONS  ON  INFANT  BAPTISM. 
BY    CHARLES   JERRAM,    VICAR    OF    CHOBHAM,    SURRY. 

0?ie  volume.     ISmo.      37c. 

These  Conversations  furnish  a  complete  view  of  the  whole  controversy,  and  a  most  con- 
clusive defence  of  Infant  Baptism. 


Devotional  Works,  published  by  Stanford  ^  Swords. 


TREATISE  ON  THE  LORD^S  SUPPER, 

DESIGNED  AS  A  GUIDE  AND 

COMPANION  TO  THE  HOLY  COMMUNION. 
BY  THE  REV.  EDWARD  BICKERSTETH, 

Edited,  and  adapted  to  the  Services  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 

in  the   United  States, 

BY  THE  REV.  LEWIS  P.  W.  BALCH, 

Rector  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  N,  Y. 

One  handsome  vohime.     12??io.     75c. 

CONTENTS.— Part  I.— Chap.  1.  The  Appointment  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
— 2.  The  Atonement  made  by  the  Death  of  Christ — 3.  Our  Faith  in  Christ's 
Atonement — 4.  On  the  New  Covenant — 5.  The  Design  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
-^6.  The  Obligation  to  lieceive  the  Loi-d's  Supper — 7.  Ans^vers  to  the  Ex- 
cuses commonly  made  for  not  Coming  to  the  Lord's  Supper — 8.  On  Receiv- 
ing Unworthily — 9.  On  the  Benefits  connected  %vith  a  Due  Reception  of  the 
Lord's  Supper — 10.  The  Happiness  which  would  follow  its  General  and 
Devout  Observance — 11.  On  Communion  with  Cludst  and  His  People  on 
Earth — 12.  On  the  Heavenly  Communion  to  be  Hereafter  enjoyed  with 
our  Lord.  Part  II. — Chap.  1.  On  Preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper — 2. 
Helps  for  Self-Examination,  and  Prayers — 3.  Meditations  Prepaiatory  to 
the  Lord's  Supper. — 4.  Hints  for  the  Regidation  and  Employment  of  the 
Mind  during  the  Communion  Service — 5.  On  the  Communion  Ser%-ice  of  the 
Chm-ch — 6.  On  the  Remembrance  of  Christ  at  the  Lord's  Table — 7.  Medi- 
tations during  the  Communion — 8.  Texts  selected  for  Meditation,  and 
arranged  under  different  Heads — 9  Meditations  and  Prayers  after  Receiving 
— 10.  Psalms  and  Hymns  suited  to  the  Lord's  Supper — 11.  The  Due  Im- 
provement of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  It  is  indeed  a  cause  of  devout  thankfulness,  that  books  like  '  Bickersteth's  Treatise 
on  the  Lord's  Supper  '  are  in  such  demand.  And  a  fervent  Prayer  is  oliered  to  God,  that 
every  effort  to  enlighten  the  hearts  of  men  on  the  subject  of  the  Holy  Communion,  may 
receive  His  gracious  blessing,  until  the  time  come  when  all  '  shall  be  devoutly  and  reli- 
giously disposed  to  receive  the  most  comfortable  sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,  in  remembrance  of  His  meritorious  Death  and  Passion,  whereby  alone  we  obtain 
remission  of  our  sins,  and  are  made  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. '  " 


NEW    MANUAL  OF    DEVOTIONS, 

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LEVI    SILLIMAN    IVES,    D.D., 

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DORR  ON  THE  COMMUNION.— An  Affectionate  Invitation  to  the 
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lish Divines.    Ry  Rev.  Bexjamix  Dorr,  D.  D.     37^  cts. 

THEOLOGY  FOR  THE  PEOPLE :  a  series  of  Discourses  on  the  Gate- 
chism  of  the  Prot.  Epis.  Church.  By  Bishop  Hexshaw  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and.    1  vol.  &T0.    $2. 


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